Sakura
by Darkpetal16
Summary: Dying and being reborn into Sakura Haruno's body at the start of Naruto can really put a spin on a girl's perspective. Self Insert, single OC warning & actual summary inside. -COMPLETE-
1. Prologue

_Hello, hello. _

_Where a blunt/eccentric OC dies and is forced into the body of Sakura Haruno at the start of the Naruto series. A different take on inserting OCs. What oh what could this girl possibly get up to? Astonishingly close to cannon.  
_

_This story was mostly written for fun and laughs. Hope you enjoy it...  
_

_**Disclaimer:**__Naruto is Kishimoto's toy, I'm just playing with it.  
_

* * *

I glanced to the left. I glanced to the right. The streets were completely empty, as far as I could tell. But that wasn't saying much seeing how as the right side of the street curved sharply at a right angle and disappeared from view… Anyway. As far as I was concerned the streets were empty.

So I stepped down from the side walk and began to cross the street. Not even halfway across, does a semi-truck come rolling around the corner at an impossibly fast speed. I was in the center of the street by the time I noticed. And let me tell you this; all I could think about was…_ Damnit._

There was absolutely no way I could dive out of the way in time. That truck was simply too fast. So I just stood there like a sitting duck repeating over and over in my lead like a broken record:_ Damnit. Fuck. Shit. Ass. Turd. FML._

Next thing I knew that beeyotch of a truck slammed into me. Sharp pain pierced through my forehead and rattled down my entire body. I heard the sickening snap of my bones breaking and taste the metallic tang of my blood. Then I felt the worst pain ever. I felt a burning sensation crawl across my neck like a hot sword had just severed my head.

And just like that, the pain was over.

Instead, I was floating ten feet in the air and looking down at the scene. The truck had evidently slammed on the breaks but not in time. And honestly, all I could see was some dark liquid drenched on the front of the truck. Oh. And there was a severed head a few feet to the right of the truck…

I took a closer look at the head.

_ Well_, I thought, _Damn. Who's going to wash dishes now?_

I'd like to say I was simply in shock and didn't process what had really just happened. I'd like to say that, really I would. But to be truthful, I guess you could say I'm a little special.

Oh well.

Okay, so I glanced around in the air whilst the driver rushed out of the truck and scanned the area. Where the hell is the white light?

I mean come on! I know for damn sure I'm dead. People can't reattach heads here. So where's the white light? The tunnel? The… I don't know Grimm Reaper?

I scowled._ I refuse to be some kind of lingering ghost, you hear me?_

Just as those lovely words echoed through my thoughts, I felt a tingling sensation wash over me. Crawling up from my toes all the way to my nose. I wanted to giggle at the sensation, it _really_ tickled, but I found myself unable to. Instead, I just sat back and watched as my world began to swirl and spin as a blinding white took over.

Then the white shattered like a broken glass, and I was thrown into darkness.

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* * *

I bolted upright in my bed, panting heavily. Sweat trickled down my skin, making my clothes hug tightly against my body. My hands shook slightly as I pushed back a stray pink hair.

I paused.

Pink hair?

Very slowly I pulled the pink bang up in front of my eyes and stared at it. A pink bang. A light pink bang. When the hell did I dye my hair?

That's when I noticed my room.

WHAT THE HELL?

My sheets were the same pink as my hair, with green flowers printed across them. The wall, a plain white, but my carpet was a shameless pink. Even my friggin' desk was pink. And then there was a white book case, filled with unfamiliar scrolls and books. My door was white with pink and green flowers, and I had a picture of Ino and Sakura from Naruto, as little brats on my nightstand.

I suppressed a shriek. What the hell was going on? Where was my black and blue room? Where was my kick ass computer, hooked up with awesome surround sound and shit?

Damn it, where were my Kisame and Kakashi plushies?

Confused and frustrated, I threw off the covers of my bed and stormed across the room. There on the desk was a single mirror. I grabbed it and stared at my reflection.

Pink hair. Green eyes. Pale skin. Long hair.

Holy sweet berry loving Mew. I was Sakura from Naruto.

I stared at her—at _me._

_So,_ I thought slowly_, I died and I reincarnated into Sakura?_

I reached up and poked my face, still staring at my reflection with a mix of awe and horror.

I might have been in shock for a few more minutes until it all sunk in.

And me, being oh so special, could only think of this:

_Aw man! I wanted to be Hinata!_

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_And the prologue is complete...  
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_Reviews are love, truly they are.  
_


	2. Assigning Teams

_And now for the actual first chapter... _

**_Disclaimer_:**_Naruto is Kishimoto's toy, I'm just playing with it.__  
_

_**Warning:** Language darlings. No, seriously. Language.  
_

_But before you read I want to make something perfectly clear-I am_ not_ anti-Sakura. As I said before this story was mostly written for the readers to laugh. And all my other fellow Sakura fans, I assure you the bashing does not last. One or two chapters max._

* * *

I squeezed Sakura's—I mean, my—cheek. Well, it's official. This isn't a dream and I'm somehow Sakura.

I licked my dry lips. My hair is long. I must not be too far in the story line. Or I might be at the very beginning.

** So now what?**

I gave a startled shout and whirled around the room, eyes scanning for any impossible intruder.

**No you idiot, it's me. Your inner self.**

"Oh," I stated aloud, turning back to face the mirror. Why the hell do I need an inner? I'm already crude and perverted.

**Exactly. You need someone to keep you company and help you work through some shit.**

Aw, thanks, so you'll help me.

**Sure. Why the hell not. But back to my original question, what now?**

I frowned. Good question. I could a.) go along with the story line and act like a complete love-sick beeyotch in first series 'til Shippuden. b.) make minor changes, just enough so I tolerate being Sakura. Or c.) Completely eff up the storyline for Sakura and live up this new life to its fullest.

Inner. I think the choice is clear.

**Indeed it is, Outer.**

** L**E**T'**S **E**F**F **U**P **T**H**E** S**T**O**R**Y**L**I**N**E**!

Hells yes. I like the way you think.

**Right back at you. We died once, and damn it, that was a fail death. It was all your fault too.**

Completely fail, and no it wasn't.

**So this time, let's die an epic death.**

Yes. Completely epic.

I was grinning into the mirror like some sort of madman. Then stopped. But. Wait. I don't want to completely ruin the storyline. 'Cause you know… it's actually kind of interesting and stuff.

**I refuse to act like a violent beeyotch towards Naruto. And if you do, I swear I will **_**so**_** haunt your dreams.**

I'm with you there. But we can be violent towards Duck-Ass, right?

**Hells yes.**

Good. And we are so going to help Hinata kick ass, right?

**Damn straight.**

Good, good. Alright, enough with this chit-chat! Let's get this party started~

And with a grin plastered on my face, I set the work to getting ready.

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* * *

When I was done, I headed down stairs, only to find the house empty. I glanced around then noticed a note stuck on the fridge. I headed over to it and examined it.

_Dear Sakura,_

_Your mother and I are on our vacation, we won't be back for a while. We just want you to know we love you so much and we're so sorry we couldn't stay with you. Please be sure to eat healthy and don't act too reckless. Make sure you don't stay up late and your father wants to make sure you don't have any boys over. We'll be sure to write to you every chance we get. We love you. _

_Lots of love,_

_Mom and Papa_

I felt myself smiling at the letter. They both had signed it. Damn Sakura—I mean I—have nice parents. Shame they aren't here and all, but whatever. I grabbed an apple and headed out the door. I headed down the path, absently chewing on the apple and heading to the academy. I mean, I think I have to go there.

Then again I could be completely wrong and have already teamed up with Sasuke and Naruto. But for whatever reason, I just don't think I have.

That's when I was about to pass the flower shop when I saw Ino come out.

_Ah_, I thought, _so that's where I am in the storyline_. _Episode 3._

And here comes the first muck up in 'Sakura's' life.

Now, Ino wasn't my favorite kunoichi. But in all honesty, I always thought it was so stupid how they ruined a friendship over some guy. No, not some guy, over _Sasuke._

Acting like complete bimbos for him… it just ticked me off. Now, don't get me wrong. I completely support SasuSaku. I just do not support SasuOc, with _me_ being the Oc. So, there is no way I was going to continue to act as Ino's hated rival. We can be friendly rivals instead, if she wants. But not over some guy. We can be rivals as kunoichis.

**You go girl. And don't come back.**

"Ino!" I called out.

That's when Ino stopped and glared at me as I stepped over to her.

"I want to talk to you," I said.

"So talk," Ino replied, her glare not leaving her face.

**Wait. So how exactly are we going to get her to be friends again? **

Way ahead of you.

"We're ninjas now," I began. Ino snorted, "and I don't want us to fight anymore."

Her glare faded for a moment to be replaced with a confused look before it returned. "What are you talking about Forehead?"

"I give up on Sasuke."

She blanched. "Wh-What?"

"I give up on Sasuke. You can have him."

She gave me an incredulous look. "You're joking right? What, did you hit your giant forehead on something this morning?"

"I have a big head because I have a big brain," I snapped. "I realized this whole thing is so stupid."

Her glare returned. "What are you talking about?"

"We're going to be kunoichi's. Our _lives_ are going to be on the line, Ino. I don't…" I sighed. "I don't want anything to happen to you."

Which is true. I really don't want anything to happen to the Rookie 9. Except maybe Sasuke.

Her glare slowly faded. "Sakura… I mean. Forehead, what are you going on about?"

"I mean we really could get hurt—or worse—and I don't think I could really forgive myself if something happened to you and I could have stopped it." Could anyone ever really forgive themselves if they allowed someone to get hurt? Who knows. But I sure wasn't going to risk it. "We were friends once. And we gave up that awesome friendship for some guy. I'm saying, it's not worth it now. I want us to be friends again. You can have Sasuke."

"And how do I know this isn't some kind of trick?"

"You don't," I admitted. "But it doesn't change the fact that the offer still stands. If you want it to, that is."

She was silent for a moment, looking away before she sighed. She turned back to me. "Okay Fore—Sakura. I accept your defeat and… I also want us to be friends again."

I grinned. "Thanks… Ino. Can I hug you?"

Ino smiled slowly. "Sure F—Sakura."

We hugged. I tried my best to contain the inner fangirl squeal of triumphant for hugging my very first character from Naruto. Though, I guess they aren't characters now. Still. This is too cool.

Even though I would have much preferred being in Hinata's body. She's just so cute… And wow, I sound really…

**Disturbing? Pedophilic? Creepy? Obsessive Fangirl-ish? Because you are those things and more.**

Thanks, asshole.

**Just doing my job.**

Ino and I pulled apart. "So you ready to head off to the academy?"

Ino grinned. "Yeah. I hope I'm going to be on Sasuke-kun's team."

I laughed. "I hope Kakashi-san is going to be my sensei."

As we walked, she shot me a curious look. "Kakashi?"

"A super awesome ninja who used to be an ANBU leader," I explained. "He's really cool."

"Ooooh."

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* * *

We entered the classroom, both of us grinning. I scanned the classroom and found Naruto sitting next to Sasuke. Then I found Hinata sitting by some random guy. I frowned at how my chances of sitting next to her were dashed. Damn it.

I turned to Ino who was frowning at how Naruto had taken the seat next to Sasuke. I saw Naruto looking at me and grinned at him. "Good morning Naruto!"

Naruto's face turned beat red and he rushed up from his seat to hurry over to me. "Good morning Sakura-chan!"

Ino gave me an incredulous look before she smirked. I stared at Naruto.

Holy tamoli he's so adorable! He really does have whiskers. Aw man, now I really want to hug him. Really, really bad. He's like an adorable brat that just needs to be hugged. How the hell could Sakura have resisted hugging this fox?

Not to mention how could anyone resist hugging Hinata or Akamaru?

"Naruto?" I asked.

"Yes Sakura-chan?" He asked eagerly.

"Can I hug you?"

"Wh-What?" Naruto stammered, his face bright red. I gestured to him.

"You're adorable. I must hug adorable things. Ino, I'm hugging you next."

Ino laughed. "Ne, ne, Sakura, you sure are in a good mood today."

"I'll be in an even better mood if I get to hug somebody. So what do you say Naruto?"

"S-Sure S-Sakura chan," He stuttered, grinning madly. I grinned right back at him before throwing my arms around his neck and hugging him. He hugged me back.

HELLS YES! I JUST GOT HUGGED BY THE MAIN CHARACTER! SUCK IT FANGIRLS!

**MUAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!**

Oooh. Nice touch with the evil laugh.

**Thanks. I was quite proud of it myself.**

I pulled back and ruffled his hair. "Ino?"

Ino matched my grin with one of her own before she opened her arms and we hugged again.

I pulled back then marched over to Hinata.

"Hinata-san?" I asked.

She glanced up at me, her cheeks slightly red. "Y-Y-Y-Y-Yes S-Sakura-s-san?"

"May I hug you?"

"W-What?"

"Please?"

"I-I-I-I g-g-g-guess."

I did a slight victory dance in my head before throwing my arms around her neck and hugging her. She returned the hug hesitantly before I pulled back, smiling happily.

"Okay. Now I just need to hug Akamaru…"

Sadly though, that's when I noticed the time. Ah… damn Iruka-sensei should be here any minute. I glanced around the room before noting an empty spot, two seats away from Sasuke and hurried over to grab it. Naruto rushed back over to his seat next to Sasuke, leaving a slightly annoyed Ino to grab her seat in the back.

It's different than the episode, I thought. But I really don't wanna sit next to Sasuke.

**I don't blame you. I think emo-ness might be contagious.**

"A-Ah Sakura-chan, s-so that hug…?" Naruto prompted, still slightly red.

I grinned. "Sorry. You're just really cute and I absolutely have to hug cute things."

"That's okay Sakura-chan! You're welcome to hug me anytime!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Awesome. Hey, why did you want to sit next to Duck-Ass—I mean Sasuke?"

"Eh?" Naruto asked, staring at me oddly. That's when I noticed Sasuke slightly turned his head in my direction at the mention of his name.

I gestured. "You were sitting next to him when Ino and I came in, I just thought you didn't like him."

"I don't!" Naruto exclaimed. "But…Sakura-chan, why aren't you calling him _kun_ or whatever?"

"Why should I?" I asked bluntly. "There's nothing special about him. I was insane to have even liked him in the first place. I don't now because I realized how much of an idiot I was."

"Aw Sakura-chan, you're not an idiot."

"Not anymore," I agreed. "But I was to let some guy ruin my friendship with Ino."

Naruto gave me a sheepish grin.

"And anyway… now isn't the time to worry about romance," I said. At this, Naruto's face fell slightly. "I want to become stronger so I can reach my goal."

"Goal?" Naruto asked. But just before I could reply, the door slid open and in came in Iruka.

"Good morning students!" He greeted, as he made his way to the classroom.

He then began his impossibly boring speech on which I completely zoned out on. Instead, I reflected on my goal.

**(WARNING! MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW. PLEASE SKIP TO THE SAFE ZONE THAT WILL BE BOLD AND UNDERLINED IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO KNOW SPOILERS! WARNING!)**

_This,_ I thought, _is my chance to extract my revenge. _

** Revenge?**

Yep. On Kabuto.

**What?**

The Akatsuki were one of my favorite things about Naruto, I mused, and when they died, they deserved to rest in peace. Instead Kabuto forced them to into his will and enslaved them during the war. Something of which, I absolutely loathed. Not only them, but Zabuzu and Haku as well.

Not to mention, he's just my least favorite person over all. I don't mind Orochimaru. He actually has a mind of his own, but Kabuto is just some obsessive little prick who needs to be taken down. He ruined some of my favorite character's lives and didn't even have the balls to be upfront about it. He's more of an ass than Tobi.

**Wait. I thought we liked Tobi. I know **_**I**_** do—he has a sexy dubbed voice. Mmm.**

We do, I agreed while choosing not to comment on that last part. As an antagonist. You don't find good antagonists that are as evil and cunning as Tobi. He makes something as silly as world domination seem probable. But he's still an ass. Kabuto is just even more so of an ass.

**A creepy ass.**

Definitely. Damn, I think he's creepier than Orochimaru.

**No one is creepy than he is.**

I call bullshit to that. Orochimaru was only obsessed with the Sharingan. And the only reason he was obsessed with the Sharingan was so he could master every justu and thus become super powerful, or whatever. Kabuto was obsessed with Orochimaru 'cause he's just that much of a creeper. Then he became obsessed with Sasuke 'cause he's also that much of a creeper. Not to mention _nothing_ Kabuto ever does is original.

**Oh. So you really don't like him?**

I really, really, don't like him. I'd rather be BFFs with Danzō than locked in a room with Kabuto in it for ten minutes. No. One minute.

**Da-amn!**

Yep. So yes. My goal is take him down a few notches. I plan on doing so by becoming a far superior medic nin compared to him, and killing him.

**(YOU HAVE REACHED THE SAFETY ZONE! SPOILERS ARE NO MORE! IN SUM: THE REVENGE IS TO KILL KABUTO AND SURPASS HIM…AND MOST LIKELY RUB IT IN HIS FACE!)**

"…Next, 7th group. Uzumaki, Naruto… Haruno, Sakura…"

At this, Naruto jumped up and exclaimed, "Yes!"

I laughed. "Looks like we're in the same group, Naruto."

"Hehehe," Naruto chuckled, giving me a sheepish grin.

"…And Uchiha Sasuke."

"Aw damn it," I grumbled along with Naruto. Sasuke spared us a sidelong glance before his gaze returned back to the front class room.

Iruka listed off the rest of the teams, and the moment he finished, Naruto decided to voice his disagreement.

"Iruka-sensei, why is a top student, like me, paired off in the same group with this guy?" He shouted, his finger jutting out and jabbing at Sasuke.

Iruka gave him a curious look before he explained, "Sasuke graduated with the best scores in the class. Naruto, you graduated with the worst. This happened because we wanted to evenly divide the abilities of the groups."

"Don't pull my leg, Dobe," Sasuke drawled from his seat, not once giving Naruto a glance.

Naruto growled, "Teme, what did you just call me…?"

I shook my head as Naruto huffed and puffed at Sasuke but simply could not blow him down. Iruka dismissed us and off I headed. I gave Ino a sympathetic smile as I left. She waited behind to properly introduce herself to her team mates—and by properly introduce I mean yell at them to make sure they didn't embarrass her in front of Sasuke.

Silly Ino. Sasuke's not worth it.

Once I was outside, Naruto called out to me from behind, "Sakura-chan!"

I turned around and grinned. "'Sup?"

"Let's eat together, now that we're in the same group," Naruto said.

"Sorry Naruto," I explained, "I wanted to head to the library and check out a few scrolls for training. Maybe we can eat later?"

"Ah… ano, okay Sakura-chan."

I waved my hand in a farewell before heading off.

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A pile of books sat beside me as I sat on the stone bench. I let out a soft sigh and rubbed the temples of my head as I looked at the books. Who knew training to be a medic nin would have so much information? There were so many books I had to leave behind because I simply couldn't carry them all.

**Bah. We can read those later. The librarian said these were all the basics and beginners. As soon as we master these, we can move on to that harder shit later.**

You're right, I conceded. But still. I refuse to be some useless girl and I know Sakura has awesome chakra control. Until I can become apprenticed to Tsunade, I need to train harder than ever. Not to mention…

**Oh?**

I don't know. I might be able to become a medic nin on my own somehow. Then I can be someone else's apprentice…

**Like who?**

Wouldn't it be cool if I could be Kisame's apprentice?

**You'd have to be an ex-nin and that would definitely screw up the plot line.**

Yeah… Still. Nice idea.

**Why do you want to be apprenticed to Kisame anyway?**

I always wanted to learn how to use a sword, I confessed. Gymnastics and Jujitsu just simply aren't quite so awesome with weapons.

**They don't use weapons at all. Gymnastics was something you enjoyed to help your flexibility and relaxed you and you used jujitsu because your parents wanted you to learn self-defense. In the end you stuck with it because it helped you vent out your frustrations.**

True, true. Still… Ah who knows.

Before Inner could reply, I noticed Sasuke leaning against a tree a little ways from me. I stared at him, he stared at me.

"You have a charming, wide forehead," Sasuke called out as he headed over to me.

Ooooh, this is _that_ part!

"…It makes me want to kiss it," Sasuke continued.

I continued to stare at him blankly. "…Not. Only Naruto would say something like that."

I quirked an eyebrow at him as he turned and sat down next to me. "I wanted to ask you something."

"Yep?"

"What do you think of Naruto?"

I smirked. "He's adorable. It makes me want to hug him all the time, you know?"

He said nothing.

"But it's more or less like a sibling affection. After all, someone else likes him," I continued, thinking of Hinata and smiling.

"What? Who likes m—Naruto?" Sasuke demanded.

I shook my head. "It's not my place to spread gossip. But she's admired for a very long time. Anyway… For whatever reason Naruto likes me. But I don't like him in that manner. He's a very cute guy, and I'm looking forward to having him on my team, but… Now isn't the time for romance. Now, I want to train and become stronger so I can reach my goal."

Just as I finished that, Naru—I mean… Sasuke grabbed his stomach and lurched off the bench with a quick goodbye then hurried off. I chuckled as he left before grabbing my books and heading home. I'll drop those off before I head back to meet Kakashi-sensei.

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_Now then... Hope you enjoyed the beginning._

_Updates will be every Tuesday unless the chapter is unbearably short or something comes up then I will update on Friday as well.  
_

_Reviews are love. The best kind.  
_


	3. Bell Test

_Hello again. Thank you for the reviews and such so far. I hope this chapter is acceptable._

_**Disclaimer: **Naruto is Kishimoto's toy. I'm just playing with it. Abridged isn't mine either.  
_

* * *

"He's late," Naruto muttered, looking out the classroom and down the halls.

I was sitting on one of the tables, reading one of the medic books I had checked out. Sasuke was minding his own business and being all broody.

I stole a glance at him. As much as I hate to admit it… he is kind of cute. But not as cute as Naruto. Or Hinata. Or Akamaru. Or hell, Gaara or Sasori.

No one is cuter than them though.

"Yep," I agreed. Then I noticed Naruto grabbing an eraser and setting up his prank. I quirked an eyebrow at him. "It's your own fault if you get in trouble."

"Hn. A Jōnin isn't going to fall for something as stupid as that," Sasuke muttered.

"You'd be amazed," I said.

And just as I said that, Kakashi entered the room, the eraser fell.

Naruto and I burst out laughing. Sasuke just stared at him in annoyance.

Kakashi slowly picked up the eraser and looked at it before saying, "How should I say this… My first impressions of you guys are…"

"I hate you."

**Way to make it awkward, pervert.**

Hehehehe….

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"Let's see, why don't you introduce yourselves?" Kakashi suggested.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"Like.. what you like, hate, your dreams and hobbies… Something like that."

"Why don't you introduce yourself first, sensei," Naruto suggested.

"Me? … I'm Hatake Kakashi. I have no intentions of telling you my likes and dislikes. As for my dreams…. I have a few hobbies…"

"Aa…" I muttered, returning to my book and rereading a confusing paragraph.

"Now it's your turn," Kakashi said.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I like cup ramen. But I like ramen at Ichiraku that Iruka-sensei bought for me even more. I hate the three minutes I have to wait to boil up the roman. My hobby is to eat and compare roman. And my dream is to become greater than all of the Hokages. I'm going to make all the villagers recognize my existence."

Kakashi nodded his head before it was my turn to speak.

**We're going before Sasuke. You thinking what I'm thinking?**

Absolutely. We are so trolling him.

"My likes are training and reading. My dislikes are obsessive weirdos with one track minds. My hobby now is to study to become a medic nin. Also, I have an goal that I have no intention to leave as just a dream. To surpass and to… kill a certain man."

Kakashi was silent for a moment while Naruto stared at me. Kakashi then gestured to Sasuke.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are many things I hate and not a lot I like. Also, I have an ambition that I have no intention to leave as a dream. The revival of my clan and to… kill a certain man."

"Hey! That's what I said!" I exclaimed.

"Way to be original, Sasuke," Naruto chuckled.

Sasuke ignored us. Silly Duck-Ass.

**Whatever. Trolling Sasuke was a success, I'm happy.**

"Alright," Kakashi began, "you three all have unique personalities, at least. We're going to begin a mission starting tomorrow. First, we're going to do something that we four can do."

"What is it?" Naruto asked eagerly, leaning forward.

"Survival training."

"Survival training?"

I smirked. "Oh?"

"Out of twenty seven graduates, only nine pass. Eighteen will be sent back to the academy. So in turn roughly sixty-six percent drop out."

"S-So what is the training exactly?" Naruto asked.

"Anyway…" And Kakashi explained where to meet him and stuff, yada, yada, yada…. We left… and off to home I went!

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**So, how's the first book coming along?**

I sat on my bed, staring at it. Confusing. Despite my somewhat vast knowledge of the Narutoverse, there's a lot of stuff in here I don't know… I think I'm going to have to head back to the library to grab some kind of dictionary.

**Damn.**

Yeah. I stole a glance out the window. Actually… I'll do that now. Besides, there's something I want to do… and a few things I want to buy.

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* * *

I knocked lightly on the door. For a while, no one answered until… Ino opened the door. I grinned at her. "Hey Ino!"

"Hey Sakura," She greeted me.

"Sorry you're not in Duck-Ass's group," I said. "But at least you got a cool sensei."

She shrugged, but she was smiling. "Yeah. Asuma is pretty cool. So what are you doing here?"

"I need a favor," I explained. "I want to cut my hair."

"What?" She asked, her eyes widening. "Why?"

I shrugged. "Too much of a hassle for training… Besides, I want a new look. So I was hoping if you would help me…?"

She grinned. "Say no more. Come on in, do you want to join us for dinner?"

I beamed. "Hell yeah!"

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**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

When morning came around, I stuffed my bag with books and grabbed an apple. I knew I could have probably slept in, but you never know… Then after tying my head band just like 'Sakura', I looked at the mirror.

I grinned at my new outfit.

Goodbye useless dress, hello comfy clothes.

My dress was replaced with a long red hoodie that hugged to my body with long sleeves. While it on its own would be capable as serving as a short dress (it about midway on my thighs), I still wore tight black Capri-tights. My ninja pouch wrapped around my right thigh.

Epic new look.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

When I reached the grounds, I plopped down on the grass and pulled out a medic book and began to study. Naruto arrived shortly after with Sasuke. Sasuke and Naruto stared at my hair before Naruto was the first to break the silence.

"Sakura-chan… your hair…"

I glanced up. "You like?"

"Why'd you cut it, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

"Long hair would be too much of a hassle for training and missions," I explained. "Someone could use it against me if it's too long. Long hair was fine in the academy but…" I shrugged. "Let's face it, this is the real world now. Things are a lot more different."

"Hn," Sasuke grunted.

I quirked an eyebrow. "Yep. Anyway, it's probably best if you sit down. I doubt Kakashi-sensei is going to be here for a _long_ time."

Naruto took my advice and sat down, grinning. Sasuke decided to stand instead. Naruto looked at my books. "What do you have there, Sakura-chan?"

I glanced down at my book that I was reading. "Medical training books. I want to learn some medic training. It'll be helpful in achieving my goal."

"Your goal…" Sasuke began, "do you really have someone you want to kill?"

"Yes," I stated bluntly.

"Who is it, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

I pursed my lips. "Don't worry about it, Naruto."

And with that, I turned back to my book and began studying. Naruto yawned before rubbing his eyes.

Thus began the impossibly long wait for Kakashi…

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

"Good morning," Kakashi said.

"You're late!" Naruto exclaimed.

I yawned and closed my book before placing it in my bag. As Kakashi gave his excuse, Naruto glowered at him.

I stood up and brushed off the dirt from my butt. Kakashi then began explaining the rules of the test. You have until twelve to get the bells, yada, yada, yada…

He provoked Naruto. Naruto charged, he beat Naruto, I quirked an eyebrow…

He released Naruto and then said start.

Before I could say a thing, Naruto and Sasuke were gone. I sighed.

"Kakashi-sensei?" I asked.

"Yes, Sakura?"

"Was your team this hasty when you first started?" I wondered. "No. Don't answer that." I sighed. "Well… I'm off."

And then I lurched into the trees. I hid myself behind a bundle of leaves and sat down, watching as Kakashi pulled out his book and then Naruto took charge.

Oh I knew where this was going.

Naruto swung his leg, Kakashi dodged, Naruto swung once again, lost his balance and next thing he knew Kakashi was behind him.

"You're too late… Hidden village of Konoha's secret taijustu master art…!" Kakashi's hand jabbed forward. "A thousand years of pain!"

Naruto screeched and lurched into the air, only to fall into the pond. I… then began to shake with laughter.

I laughed and laughed and Kakashi turned to look in my direction. I was clutching my sides and heaving before I tumbled out of my branch and hit the ground.

"S-S-Sexual a-a-a-assault!" I howled with laughter and chanted it.

Kakashi gave me an incredulous look. "It's not nice to laugh at your team mates."

"Sh-Sh-Shut up~" I sung, shaking with laughter. "Oh… oh wow…"

I shook my head before my laughter died and I hurried off to a new hiding spot. It wasn't time yet to start getting serious. I heard as Naruto rushed Kakashi, only to have Kakashi switch out on him. Then I heard as Naruto got caught, dangling like a fish from the tree.

I turned my head from my hiding spot—another branch in the trees—to see as Sasuke launched his attack. Right on time, his attack landed into Kakashi's back… only for Kakashi to disappear in a puff with the replacement of a log.

"Logged!" I shrieked from my hiding spot.

Naruto Abridged. Ftw.

**Damn straight.**

I dropped down on the branch behind me and began to move away from my hiding spot, knowing I had given it away. I rushed from lower branch, to lower branch before deciding on a new hiding spot. I chuckled as I pulled myself up to the top branch.

I turned my head and saw Kakashi standing in the clearing, reading his book. I quirked an eyebrow.

Good thing I didn't continue on to the next branch. He would have noticed me for sure…

"Sakura, behind you."

I covered my mouth to muffle the surprise shriek. I whirled around. "Damn Kakashi-sensei! You nearly gave me a heart attack."

He tilted his head. "You gave away your position."

"You already knew where I was," I snorted. "So what's the point in such a thing…?

Just as I finished saying that, he held his hands in the familiar hand sign of a genjustu, leaves fell around me, obscuring my view momentarily. When the leaves vanished, I was in the center of the clearing. Kakashi was nowhere to be seen.

I sighed.

"Sakura…"

I turned my head, only to find Sasuke bleeding profoundly with multiple shuriken in his back. He was barely clutching on to a tree as he lifted his head weakly, "Sakura… help me."

I stared at him. "Kakashi, this is a direct insult to my intelligence. You think a genjustu like this would trick me? Honestly. First of all, no way would Duck-Ass ask for help, period. Second of all, I _saw_ that hand sign. Just because I'm a newbie, does not mean I'm stupid!"

And in a huff, I marched right past Sasuke into the woods behind him. I figured if I kept walking, I would eventually be released from the genjustu. And after a while, my assumption was confirmed. Leaves whirled around me, before lifting away. I was back on my branch and Kakashi was gone.

_ Okay. Now it's time to get serious_, I thought, scowling. I glanced around. Let's go find Sasuke and Naruto.

**Alright.**

I lurched off from my branch, dropping down to the next one. Over and over I repeated this process until I somehow found myself staring at the back of Sasuke.

"Duck-Ass," I whispered. "Come here."

Sasuke whipped his head around, his eyes narrowing. "What are you doing?"

"We need to work together," I said. "All of us. Including Naruto. You do realize this is a test to measure out how well we work together, right?"

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke snapped.

I rolled my eyes. "Come on, it's so obvious. Why do you really suppose there's only two bells? It's to see if we turn against each other for our own personal benefit. When you're on a team mission, you have to work together and overcome your selfish desires. This is a test to see if we can push aside our selfishness and work to achieve something greater. Don't tell me you didn't figure it out?"

Sasuke said nothing, but his eyes narrowed further. "Hn. And what exactly is your great plan?"

"First, we need Naruto," I said. "So do you mind helping me look for him?"

"Hn. Dobe is over there."

He gestured in a general east-ward direction and I nodded my head before lurching away from him. He followed close behind me. Eventually we did find Naruto, and I explained to him what was going on. He took it in strides, but he didn't like the fact he was working with Sasuke. I could tell that the feeling was mutual with Sasuke.

But they both agreed to it and we set the plan in motion.

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

** (Third Person POV)**

Kakashi knew they were up to something. Of what, he didn't know. Yet. And he had the funny feeling he was going to find out soon enough.

"Oi! Kakashi! You ready to admit defeat?" Called out the familiar voice of Naruto. Naruto entered the clearing, grinning like mad.

"Hmm?" Kakashi asked, lifting his eyes off the pages of his beloved book.

"'Cause Naruto Uzamaki is going to kick your ass!" Naruto shouted, charging forward.

Kakashi merely tilted his head slightly, eyeing the energetic blonde.

Naruto held up his hands in the familiar sign for Shadow Clones. "Multi-Shadow-Clone Justu!"

Seven more Narutos appeared , rushing towards Kakashi.

Kakashi sighed before taking a step back. That's when the hand shot up from the ground, barely not grabbing hold of his foot.

Emphasis on barely. Had it not been for Kakashi's superior reflex, the hand might have grabbed him. As it were though, it did not. So instead, Kakashi was forced to be lurched up into the air.

Right at the same time one of the Naruto Clones launched another Naruto into the air. This was followed quickly by three more.

Kakashi's eyes narrowed slightly. This was way too clever for Naruto.

Kakashi twisted his body to dodge the first round of Narutos, but what he didn't expect was for the body that the ground hand was attached to, to lurch up into the air after him. Sasuke zeroed in on Kakashi, bringing his leg up to kick him.

Kakashi grabbed Sasuke's leg, just as Sasuke swung his first fist. Kakashi grabbed Sasuke's fist with his other hand… Just as he felt something brush against his pocket.

And there, holding on to his leg was a grinning Sakura. Her hand darted forward to grab the bells—and Kakashi quickly released his chakra to substitute... but not before one bell was grabbed by Sakura.

Kakashi was substituted with one of the Naruto clones, and disappeared into view.

Sakura and Sasuke fell to the ground, both spinning to land properly. Naruto rushed over to greet them, grinning like mad.

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

**(First Person POV – Sakura)**

I held up the bell proudly. "Excellent work everyone."

The bell rung sharply and Kakashi reappeared next to his students. "Well, well. Good job Sakura. It looks like you're the only one who passed. I suppose, then, you're the only one who gets lunch—"

"Bzz!" I buzzed. "You're wrong, Kakashi. Naruto and Sasuke also pass."

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were the sensei."

I grinned. "I'm not. But all three of us worked together as a team. If it wasn't for them, I could have never been able to grab the bell on time."

"But only one of you gets the bell."

"Correct," I agreed. At this Sasuke shot me a venomous glare and Naruto looked appalled. I continued, "So we all pass."

"I'm afraid I'm not following your logic."

"All three of us," I gestured to them. "Worked together as one. Only one of us gets the bell. That one, is all of us. And besides. I wouldn't have eaten the food even if you had given it to me. These are my team mates. My comrades. They take priority over all. After all…"

**Pause for dramatic affect. Pause for dramatic affect. Pausepausepausepausepausefor theloveofsweetJashinPAUSE… okay now you can continue.**

"Those who don't take care of their friends are even worse than scum," I finished.

Kakashi stared at me, and I could have sworn his one eye widened just slightly. I cleared my throat. "So… did I get it right?"

Kakashi stared at me for a moment before glancing at Naruto and Sasuke. He was quiet before he said. "Yes. All of you pass."

Naruto cheered. "Yatta! Way to go Sakura-chan~"

I laughed. Sasuke merely smirked.

* * *

_Ta da. Hope you enjoyed._

_Reviews are love.  
_

_See you next Tuesday.  
_


	4. The Way to Waves

_Hello everyone. It's Tuesday, meaning update day._

_**Disclaimer: **Naruto is Kishimoto's toy. I'm just playing with it. Also, I don't own Naruto Abridged-those belong to two geniuses of comedy.  
_

_**Warning:** Language. No, I'm serious.  
_

_**Question: **Does Sakura have two individualities? **Answer:** Sakura has a split personality or an 'Inner', just as the original Sakura.  
_

* * *

It's been about three weeks since Kakashi-sensei had passed us. And let me tell you—what a boring three weeks! Honestly.

**Unless you count training with Hinata-chan boring.**

Oh wait. There is that.

**Honestly, how could you forget to tell the readers something as important as that?**

The what?

**The readers.**

Inner, we're not in some fanfic. There are no readers.

**Agh! Just because I can break the fourth wall and **_**you**_** can't, doesn't mean there isn't a fourth wall in the first place!**

…

**…**

…

**…**

…

**Wanna just have a flash back?**

…Okay.

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

**(Epic Flash Back & Explanation)**

The next day from our test, I got up extra early in the morning and headed off to my destination. The moment I reached there, I stopped outside the gates and waited.

**What are we doing here?**

I think it's pretty obvious what we're doing here.

**No. Not really.**

Hello? We have, like, three or four weeks until the whole Zabuza stuff. In the mean time I really need to get some training in.

**Okay, so what does that have to do with being **_**here?**_

Simple. I need help with chakra control. I get that I—I mean Sakura—has awesome chakra control but _I_ don't really know how to access it. And these people specialize in chakra control. Not to mention I absolutely adore H—

The impossibly large front gates opened slightly and out poked a head. It was an unimportant man from the Clan. He gave me an indifferent look.

"What are you doing at the Hyūga residence?"

"I would like to speak with Hinata-sama," I chirped, grinning.

He stared at me. "Do you have an appointment?"

"No… But she's not head of the family yet, so does it really matter?"

He scowled at me. I continued to grin cheekily.

"I will see if she Hinata-hime wishes to see you," He said thinly after a moment. I gave him a nod—but I don't think he needed my acknowledgement—before he was gone and the gates were closed.

**Anyway…**

Yes, anyway… I also really want to train with her. Who knows, maybe I can help her become at least a bit stronger before the exams. Then maybe she might put up a better fight against Neji.

**Ah. And how exactly are you going to explain why you want to train her?**

Way ahead of you.

So I waited outside the gates for a while longer before Hinata herself opened the gates and stepped outside. At that, I was most surprised. I thought for sure they would make me come in and see her.

"Hey Hinata-chan!" I greeted.

"H-H-H-Hello S-Sakura s-san," Hinata murmured.

"So, do you mind if I steal you for a bit today?" I asked. "Oh, and a bit tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that…"

Hinata gave me an alarmed look. "Wh-What are you t-talking a-about S-S-Sakura-s-san?

"I want to train with you. One on one," I explained.

"M-M-Me…?"

"Yep." I nodded my head. "So… what do you say?"

Hinata gave me a curious look. "I… I d-d-do not know. Why d-do you wa-want to train w-with me?"

"I remember the sparring matches in the academy," I murmured. Not completely a lie. I had vague flashes of my—of _Sakura's_—memories pertaining to the academy days. But they never lasted long and they were always blurred. But I remember enough to confirm that there were sparring matches—something that had always been speculated by Naruto fans but never really confirmed—coupled with the fact on how Hinata already fight… I can make an assumption to what her fighting style would have been like.

"O-Oh?"

"I think it would be best if we worked together," I said. "I know you can't take a hit—and please don't be offended by this! And I know you can't deal a lot of damage. But… I think I can help you with that."

"Y-Y-You d-do?" Hinata asked, her eyes widening slightly.

I nodded my head. "I kind of specialize in hard hits, I guess you could say. And I also need to work on endurance too, so that's something we can both practice on. And…"

I gave her a sheepish grin. "I need help with chakra control."

She stared at me for a moment, confusion coloring her features before they cleared and she gave a slight smile. "I-I see."

"And you're really good at chakra control—don't deny it!—so I was hoping we could train together, every day."

"I...," Hinata hesitated, "would like that. I… I have b-b-been me-meaning to do m-more training b-but…"

"You can't seem to feel comfortable enough to train at home?" I ventured. She looked alarmed at my guess and I gave her a grin. "I understand, kind of. I'm empathetic, at least."

She nodded her head. "I… thank you. B-But I-I-I will a-also ha-have to t-train w-with my o-own team mates."

"I understand," I said. "I also have to train with my own as well… But. Training usually ends around four for me… how about you?"

"Three," She murmured.

I nodded my head. "So how about you and me find a training spot today—some place quiet and recluse so we won't be bothered—and we go there every day at around four?"

"That… y-yes. Th-That w-would be-be nice."

I grinned. "Awesome. So do you want to come help me look now?"

"S-Sure S-Sakura-s-san. L-Let me g-g-go and t-tell m-my father wh-where I-I will be."

I nodded my head but as she turned to leave I called out, "Oh, and just call me Sakura. No need for _san_ when we're training partners now, ne?"

She smiled.

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

Since then on, every day we trained from four to eight. Sometimes we'd stay as late as midnight if we were really working on it. And I must say… Hinata did so much better than I thought she would.

I was totally prepared for her to be so shy and tentative about fighting me, like she was in the academy and like I knew she was with her family. But… it seemed as though she really did give it her all. It might have been because she was only fighting with me. It might have been because there wasn't any pressure during training. Hell, it might even be because she views me as a rival. I don't know. But she did do amazing.

But I was right about one thing. Her endurance really did need some work.

Every time she pushed her body to the limit, a Hyūga member—mainly her private tutor or father—would say she should give up and stop. No break and then try again. Just. Stop.

Instead of training for endurance, that tactic only allowed her body to get bruised and sore before recuperating.

So we definitely didn't follow that tactic.

For the first two hours we would spar. Taijustu only. We weren't allowed to dodge any hits—not yet at least—and we had to dish out as much as we could. Hinata's usual endurance was roughly an hour for doing this. Mine was near the two hour mark before we would both collapse. But thankfully during the training session, Hinata was able to pop back up on her feet after a few minutes of rest.

The next two hours we would deal in chakra control and offense.

Hinata seriously helped me with chakra control. She was practically an expert on it—at least compared to me. With her help I was able to finally get a tiny green glow from my hands. That was after two weeks of not only her private training, but training on my own. It took another week—days before the Zabuza arc—before I could actually _use_ it.

Offensively we just practiced against various trees and rocks (our training spot was a little out of the village in the forest).

Overall, after three weeks of rigorous training, I'd like to say we improved quite a bit.

But there was no real way of knowing for sure until we tested it in actual battle. Speaking of which…

**(Epic Flashback & Explanation Over)**

**That was a fail flash back.**

…Oh hush you.

There was a sharp crackle in my right ear before a hushed voice sounded right next to it. "Sasuke, arrived at point B."

I snapped back from my musings and quickly responded with a, "This is Sakura, I've arrived at point C."

There was a pregnant pause before Naruto spoke. "This is Naruto, arrived at point A."

"You're slow Naruto," Drawled another voice in my ear—Kakashi. "Alright. Team 7… the target has moved. After it!"

Do I really need to explain what happens next? I think we all know. We chase after the 'target' with Kakashi watching us all looking bored out of his mind and giving us directions. Naruto catches it, we confirm it's the missing cat whilst the cat tries to maul Naruto to death.

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

After we delivered the cat to the wife of the Fire Country's Feudal Lord, I winced at her crushing grip on it. Poor thing.

"Now then, Kakashi's 7th unit's next mission is," The Third Hokage began, "babysitting Yojuyu-sama's boy. Grocery shopping, dog sitting…."

"No!" Naruto exclaimed, crossing his arms together to form a firm x. "No thank you to all of those. I want a more exciting mission. Choose something else."

"Idiot! You're still a novice ninja. Everyone needs to start off doing—" Iruka exclaimed only to be cut off by Naruto.

And I pretty much ignored the rest of the conversation from there. How missions are separated via A, B, C, D, etc, etc. Naruto pouted, Kakashi sighed and Sasuke huffed. Finally the Hokage relented and allowed the infamous C-Rank mission.

Viola, in comes in the drunk man otherwise known as Tazuna.

"What? They're all kids," Drawled Tazuna.

"You'd be surprised what kids can do," I commented before Tazuna could remark about Naruto's height and intelligence.

He gave me a grin. "I am bridge building expert, Tazuna. Once I have returned to my country, I will have of you protect my life while I finish the bridge…"

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

"All right! Let's go!" Naruto cheered, his bag strapped tightly to his back as he grinned largely.

"Mm? What are you all excited about?" I asked half-heartedly, already knowing the answer.

"Because I've never gone outside the village before," Naruto said, still grinning like mad.

"Oi, is this kid really capable of completing the mission?" Tazuna asked, giving Naruto an incredulous stare.

Kakashi gave his famous one-eyed-crinkled-so-it-looks-like-he's-smiling-but-in-reality-he-might-very-well-be-flipping-you-off-in-his-mind and said, "Don't worry. I'm a Jōnin and I'll be accompanying you."

Naruto glowered at Tazuna's remark and looked ready to object—very loudly I might add—before I interrupted him, "So we ready to get going?"

All at once Naruto's anger vanished and he was back to being anxious as a kiddie at Disney World and told he just won the entire park to himself for the whole day.

"I suppose we are," Kakashi murmured.

I almost smirked.

Oh no… you're not… not yet…

**You're enjoying this too much. You're about to go into a life and death situation and you're totally letting your fangirl get the better of you.**

I know… but… I think I'm ready. If useless Sakura can survive it—I'd like to imagine I can as well.

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

After walking for a while, I inquired about the five Kazekage-Rangers. Oops. I mean the five great Kazekages…

Naruto Abridged ftw.

We walked for a while longer, crossed the small wooden bridge with the clear stream, walked a bit more before…

The puddle.

The moment it came into view, I tilted my head up at the sky and squinted my eyes. Then I pursed my lips before saying, "Hold up guys."

The group came to a slow stop. Naruto was to first to inquire about the stop. "What's up Sakura-chan?"

I pointed to the puddle. "It hasn't rained today. Why is there a puddle? Not to mention even if it had rained, wouldn't there be more puddles?"

Kakashi gave me that famous eye-crinkle and said, "And what of it, Sakura?"

I frowned at his question, caught off guard from it. "Well… I… I don't know. It's just something strange. I don't like it."

"You worry too much, Sakura-chan," Naruto said, dismissing it with a wave of his hand.

Before I could protest, Du—I mean Sasuke spoke up, "No. She's right Naruto. A puddle shouldn't be there."

He then turned to face the puddle, pulling out a kunai in the process.

**Duck-Ass to the rescue. Who would have thought?**

He didn't come to the rescue, I retorted. He merely saw the logic in my reasoning and acted upon it.

I then moved to stand in front of Tazuna, pulling out a kunai of my own. Naruto kept giving me a curious look and Kakashi merely watched us without making a comment.

There was a pregnant pause before it happened.

Out of the water they lurched, the first one being launched in to the air before throwing a chain at Kakashi. Just barely I could follow it with my eyes.

Too fast. Way too fast, I thought my eyes wide.

The next one followed after the first one, the chain wrapped around Kakashi and the two generic villains pulled on the chain. Kakashi was no more.

"Damn it Kakashi!" I exclaimed, oddly enough feeling annoyed it was going sickeningly close along with Episode 6. "Playing dead is no way to test your students."

If Naruto or Sasuke had heard my comment, they didn't acknowledge it. Naruto's eyes were wide with fear and he froze when the two generic henchmen lurched towards him. Before he could do anything though, Sasuke acted.

He threw his kunai at their chain and disrupted it before it could wrap around Naruto. The momentum from the kunai throw was enough to lodge the chains deeply into a nearby tree. He then flipped in the air, smirking, before he kicked both of them in the face.

They separated, both of them narrowing their eyes before lurching away and one circling around to hit Naruto from behind. Once more Naruto was frozen, his eyes wide.

The second one began to rush towards me and Tazuna.

That's when it hit me.

My legs felt oddly wobbly, adrenaline and fear pulsing through me. All at once things seemed to drop to a slow crawl almost. I was afraid.

I had the strongest urge to run, to flee for my pathetic life like some coward.

But I refused to. I would not back down. I chose this life for me—for Sakura—and damn it, I would go through with my choice. I've already died once, it's not so bad.

My fear did not fade. I knew it wouldn't. But I did feel a small sense of bravery and self-accomplishment for myself as I stood in front of Tazuna, bracing for impact and holding the kunai out, preparing to defend.

Moments before the generic villain could touch me, Sasuke was in front of me, his arms extended as if he could provide some kind of barrier.

And before the hired-nin could touch _him_, Kakashi's arm jutted out from virtually nowhere and the generic henchman's neck collided in it.

There Kakashi stood, completely relaxed, holding two unconscious bodies in his arms.

I glanced over at Naruto. I didn't even notice Kakashi taking out the first one.

**We're slow.**

Indeed. That's something we're going to have to work on. I could barely keep up with this match. And I didn't even really fight in it.

**Yay, more training with Hinata.**

Huzzuh, I thought dryly, more coming home coated in sweat and fatigue pushing down.

"Yo," Kakashi greeted. "Naruto, sorry for not helping out right away. I got you hurt. I didn't think you wouldn't be able to move."

He turned towards me and Sasuke. "Anyway, Sasuke, good job. Sakura, you too."

I snorted. "Playing dead to test us was so not cool."

"I heard you the first time," Kakashi said. "How'd you know I was playing dead?"

I pointed over to the pile of logs. "That, and if you had really died so easily _after_ I had pointed out a warning you really suck for a Jōnin. And you Kakashi-sensei do not suck."

"So glad for your vote of confidence in my abilities."

I grinned. Sasuke turned to Naruto, smirking. "Are you hurt, Mr. Scaredy Cat?"

Naruto glowered. "Sasuke!"

"Naruto!" Kakashi interrupted before a fight could escalate. "There was poison in their nails. We need to take out the poison right away. We'll have to head back to the hospital to open up your wound and leech out the poisoned blood. Don't move too much or the poison will spread more easily."

Then not even turning his head, he spoke to Tazuna. "By the way, Tazuna."

"W-What is it?"

"I need to talk to you," Kakashi said, turning his head slightly.

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

The two generic henchmen were now tied up to a tree, the five of us surrounding them.

As Kakashi explained the situation and questioned their intentions, I dropped back in to my thoughts.

**We were afraid.**

I know.

**We're always going to be afraid, aren't we?**

We'd be idiots if we weren't. But… we still acted, didn't we?

**That's true.**

Besides… bravery isn't about being afraid. It's about accepting and overcoming your fear.

**Oooh, wise words.**

Don't be sarcastic. Anyway… I'm sure that over time it'll get easier. Maybe. I've never really been placed in life and death situations that often.

**And **_**you**_** wanted to become a missing-nin.**

For Kisame, hell yes. If I wasn't a major part of the storyline I'd be all over that blue cutie.

**You think he's cute?**

Abso-friggin'-lutely. I just want to glomp him. Him and Kakashi. Oh and Kakuzu. But Kakuzu would kill me. And Kakashi would probably think I'm insane.

Kisame would probably think I'm insane too.

**Aren't we? Or more accurately I should say—aren't **_**you?**_

You're part of me so you're just as insane as me. So yes, we are indeed. What better way to explain how we're still eager about continuing on a life-threatening mission.

**Blood thirsting and sadistic would also work.**

I'm not _that_ sadistic.

**But you don't deny being blood thirsty.**

Maybe just a little.

"…Anyway… This sure is a burden. Let's go back to the village to cure Naruto," Kakashi drawled, pulling me from my thoughts.

Naruto glared at him, his eyes darkening angrily. Then swiftly, he pulled out a kunai and jabbed in his hand.

Fail emo attempt Naruto, I thought inwardly grinning.

Naruto Abridged. Ftw.

**Stop making parody references. **

I can't help it. That stuff is friggin' funny.

Naturally I didn't grin outwardly, instead I stared at Naruto with a raised eyebrow, watching as the blood pooled out from him. "Why am I so different…. Why am I always… Damn it."

"Naruto," I murmured, "you adorable _baka_."

Kakashi sighed. "Naruto, it's nice you took out the poisoned blood. But you're going to die from blood loss now."

A pause.

Kakashi's eye crinkled into his I'm-smiling-and-or-smirking-hugely-underneath-my-mask-from-your-idiocy eye crinkle. He appeared from behind Naruto. "It's not good if you don't stop it right away. Seriously."

"…NOOO! No, no, no, no,nononononononnononononoooo. I can't die this way!" Naruto shouted, jumping around and moving around like a crazy person.

"Calm down and show me your hand," Kakashi instructed calmly. Naruto rushed over to him.

I saw my chance.

"Actually, Kakashi-sensei," I said quickly. "Do you mind if I take a look?"

Kakashi glanced up from examining Naruto's hand. "Hmm?"

I stepped over and carefully took Naruto's hand. "I've been training for as a medic ninja these past three weeks."

"What? Really Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, his eyes wide.

"Ah, so where'd you receive this training?" Kakashi asked casually.

"Myself and a little from Hinata-chan," I murmured, lifting my right hand and furrowing my eyebrows.

"Hmm?" Kakashi murmured.

"The books are in my bag, I've been studying like crazy after all our missions and training with Hinata. She's helped my chakra control a lot," I answered absently, focusing on my own hand.

I felt the familiar rush of warm chakra flow towards my hand, it glowed a pale blue.

Sasuke moved to stand beside me as he looked at my hand, a single eyebrow raised in slight curiosity. Kakashi watched me as well.

The blue chakra flickered a pale green a few times before turning fully green and holding. I lowered my hand over Naruto's hand and concentrated. I imagined stitching Naruto's skin and muscle back together, the wound closing.

Naruto's eyes widened as my picture became a reality. Even Sasuke's eyes looked slightly wider. I'd like to imagine I surprised Kakashi too, but I couldn't see him that clearly through the corner of my eye.

Soon Naruto's hand was fully healed and I removed my own hand, relaxing.

A small wave of fatigue washed over me from the exert of precise chakra control, but I pushed it back, blinking my eyes.

"Impressive," Kakashi said, still staring at Naruto's hand. "Normally it takes months of training under a sensei before acquiring the capability to do what you've just done now, Sakura. And you trained by yourself?"

"With books and Hinata," I corrected.

"That's so cool, Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed, grinning.

"I see," Kakashi said, "Very impressive, Sakura."

I grinned at his praise. "The books were very clear and Hinata helped me with my chakra control. I couldn't have done it so quickly without her."

"Hn. Alright," Sasuke muttered, looking away.

"Alright?" Naruto shouted. "It's more than alright! It's kick ass!"

"Kick ass, aside," I said, still feeling immensely proud of myself from Kakashi's praise, "don't you think it's time to head off?"

Kakashi nodded his head. "Sakura's right. Alright team, let's go."

* * *

_And so the incredibly long Zabuza Arc begins... _

_It's actually my least favorite arc out of all the Part I arcs. I don't know why.  
_

_Reviews would be wonderful.  
_

_See you next Tuesday.  
_


	5. Enter Zabuza and Trees

_Onwards with the continuation of our story... A/N at the bottom..._

_**Disclaimer:** Naruto is Kishimoto's toy, I'm just playing with it. I don't own Naruto Abridged either.  
_

_**Warning:** Language. Honestly.  
_

* * *

After our informative boat ride and short trip through the docks, we were headed out into the forest. Not long after walking, Naruto practically killed a rabbit.

A white rabbit. And me being a Narutard and praise-whore, decided to comment on it.

"Why does it have _white_ fur?" I asked, staring at it.

Naruto, who was suffocating the poor thing in his hug, glanced up at me. "Huh?"

"It's not winter, but it has _white_ fur. There's no snow around here, what's up with that?" I shook my head. "That goes against the laws of nature."

Kakashi glanced at me. "Good question, Sakura."

I beamed at the praise.

**Damn you really are a praise-whore.**

Only for Kakashi, Kisame, and Tobi. But 'cause Kisame and Tobi aren't going to be showing up any time soon, I'll have to settle for Kakashi.

"It was probably raised elsewhere then brought here," I murmured, still eyeing it wearily.

"Most likely," Kakashi agreed.

My eyes lifted up from the suffocating animal and scanned the trees. I wonder if I'll be able to spot Zabuza.

**Doubtful. He **_**is**_** an elite ninja.**

Maybe. But he's probably relying on the fact that we aren't expecting him and thus might overlook something. People kind of have a tendency to only see what they're expected to see.

**True.**

Much to my disappointment though, I didn't spot him.

After another moment of Naruto killing a rabbit via death hug, Kakashi called out for everyone to duck. I wasted no time in dropping to the ground.

Everyone else shortly followed behind me. Zabuza's big-ass butcher sword sliced through the air and landed with a thud in a tree. I lurched up from the ground, pulling out a kunai and spinning it through my fingers—a neat trick Hinata taught me—and assumed a fighting stance.

On top of the sword's handle stood Zabuza in all his missing-nin glory, his back turned to us as he looked down at us.

Kakashi stepped forward casually. Though his stance and voice stated he was calm, the way his eye hardened made it perfectly clear he was tense and ready for battle. "Oh, my, my, you are Momochi Zabuza, the missing ninja of the Hidden Village of Mist."

Naruto, being the adorable idiot he was, charged forward. Most likely thinking that he didn't want Sasuke to one-up him this time. Kakashi stopped him with an outstretched hand and murmured for Naruto to stay back.

Naruto grumbled something back but didn't attempt to charge again, yet. Kakashi raised his left hand to his other eye and I felt a small smile tug at my lips.

"I'm guessing you are Kakashi the Sharingan user," Zabuza stated from above.

Sasuke gave Kakashi an alarmed and slightly curious look. "I'm sorry, but I'll need you to hand over the geezer."

Kakashi scowled slightly. "Formation B, everyone."

Then he lifted up his headband that covered his left eye and there glared the Sharingan.

I think we all know where this is heading.

Zabuza and Kakashi exchange a few words, the mist appeared and Sasuke, Naruto and I rushed towards Tazuna and form a defensive stance.

Zabuza disappears after the promise of death for Kakashi and the mist thickens.

Once more I felt my legs want to wobble and the strong urge to run washed over me. This time it was different. More intense, thanks to the mist. I could feel my heart pounding loudly and quickly, blood pulsing through my head.

It was painstakingly quiet.

Without all that dramatic music, I never realized just how eerily quiet it was. It set my nerves on the edge and I had a strong desire to grit my teeth.

I didn't because I knew there wasn't much of a point, but I wanted to.

Just like I wanted to run far, far away from here.

When Zabuza started speaking, his voice echoing all around thanks to the mist, I wanted to scream at him to shut up. His creepy-ass threats of death did not help improve my fear at all.

I swallowed my saliva, scanning the mist hopelessly for any signs of the missing nin. Through the corner of my eye, I could see Sasuke's hands shake slightly while holding his kunai.

I was tied between letting out a sigh of relief at the sign of the upcoming event, or letting out an annoyed and slightly fearful shriek at what was coming. I knew what was going to happen next.

Just like in episode 7, Kakashi recalled the mist and promised the three of us he'd protect us with his life.

It was just as cool as it was on the show as it was in real life.

Sadly though, that's when Zabuza decided to stick to the script and appear behind us.

And really, let me tell you it was friggin creepy! One second nothing was behind me but my friendly team mates, the next—_bam!_—missing nin with every intentions of killing me was there.

I lurched away from him, just as my team mates and Tazuna did while Kakashi rushed forward to meet him.

That Zabuza dispersed into water. Then the real Zabuza appeared behind him, killing Kakashi. That Kakashi dispersed into water. Then the real Kakashi appeared from behind, holding a kunai to Zabuza's throat.

All of this transpired, in reality, in a short few seconds. Had I not watched it already from the episodes, I doubt I would have been able to really process what just happened.

Zabuza knocked Kakashi back after a short exchange of words. Kakashi landed in the water… long story short Kakashi ended up trapped in a water prison. Naruto wanted to rush forward, I stopped him. Kakashi explained about Zabuza's past…

Zabuza rushed forward and in a blink of an eye he had hit Sasuke and pinned him with a leg on his chest. Naruto created clones and while _Sakura_ in this episode did nothing.

_I_ did something.

I twirled the kunai in my fingers while Naruto created a multitude of clones and rushed up on him. I rushed with them, grabbing Sasuke in the process and pulling him out.

All the Naruto's jumped onto Zabuza while I furrowed my eyebrow.

_Come on, come on, come on,_ I chanted, fear and adrenaline pulsing through me and making my head slightly dizzy. _I need to focus, a little help!_

**Focus? Fine. Focus on me idiot. **

At the sound of the voice of my inner, I felt a small wave of calm and surety wash over me. It was brief, just a flash almost, but it was there. It was enough, just barely, to get my hand to glow that familiar green.

"Hold still Sasuke," I murmured, placing the hand over his chest. My voice was oddly enough calm, though my heart suggested otherwise.

** A bruised rib, possibly broken.**

I pictured easing the stress on the bone, I could feel his insides twisting and readjusting under my glowing hand.

I couldn't fully heal it, but I damn straight could make it easier for him to breath. At the small relieved sigh that hissed between his lips I could tell it had worked.

An enraged roar snapped my concentration and my chakra halted. Zabuza threw off the dog-pile of Naruto clones.

Naruto skidded away and I lurched up and away from Sasuke, rushing over to him. Naruto threw the folded blades at Sasuke. Sasuke caught them just as I reached 'Naruto'.

"Are you hurt anywhere?" I questioned immediately, trying my best not to pay attention to what Sasuke was doing.

'Naruto' shook his head but then winced. I gave an annoyed grunt before placing my hand along his collar bone and dragging it down to his stomach. My eyes were closed in concentration, though it was incredibly hard when I could still feel the cold stone of dread and fear wrap around me.

I heard the soft pop as the two shuriken that Sasuke had thrown turned into the real Naruto.

After I determined nothing of major injury was on Naruto-clone I turned my glance towards Zabuza and Kakashi who were once again fighting. Now that Kakashi was freed from the water-prison justu.

The Naruto that I was examining popped and disappeared. I stood up from my spot and brushed off the dirt that clung to my outfit. It was an attempt to look casual and calm, but my hands were shaking.

**Why did you actually examine a clone? I could imagine pretending to, but you actually looked for any injuries.**

Don't you remember? In the last book we read... That clones held the same injuries Naruto had the moment he was made. Which was after the dog-pile, by examining that clone I could see if there were any serious injuries on Naruto. While I couldn't see if anything was broken—as it was just a clone—I could tell if he was having trouble breathing or suffering some type of flesh wound.

**Oh… Right…**

I think we all know what happened next. The epic fight between Kakashi and Zabuza.

And I shamelessly admit I did absolutely nothing but watch the fight.

My life wasn't in any immediate danger any time soon. Kakashi had this. Right now we were in the clear, no one was sustaining any serious injury so I didn't need to rush to their aid. Besides, I don't think I could perform any medical justu's at the moment, I wouldn't be able to hold my concentration during an epic fight.

**Another thing we'll have to work on. Goody.**

Indeed.

So I pretty much just sat back and watched the showdown. All the way up until Haku makes his appearance and Zabuza slumped against the tree.

Naruto and Sasuke gasped in alarm and Kakashi whirled around to stare at the masked Haku.

I remained indifferent.

Kakashi lurched from the tree to kneel beside Zabuza before checking his pulse.

I slowly walked forward towards the body.

"He really is dead," Kakashi muttered, retracting his hand from the body.

I tilted my head as I looked closely at Zabuza._ Wow, it really does look like he's dead. His eyes are open and I can't even see the slight—ever so slight—movement for his breathing._

Haku dipped his head. "Thank you very much."

Kakashi glanced back up at him. Haku continued, "I was looking for a chance to kill Zabuza."

Kakashi was silent for a moment before he spoke again. "That mask... if I remember correctly, you must be a hunter-nin from the Hidden Village of the Mist."

"You are very well informed," Haku murmured.

"Hunter-nin?" Naruto asked a little ways from us.

I answered him, "Hunter-nins are those who assassinate missing-nin like Zabuza."

"Yes, I am a member of the pursuing ninja unit that hunt missing-nin," Haku confirmed.

Naruto then made his point at how young Haku was and how strong Zabuza was, yada, yada yada… Then Kakashi said his bad-ass line of, 'There are people in this world, younger than you but stronger than me.'

Seriously. I almost died inside from my fangirl squeal.

I settled for grinning like mad when he said that and then quickly looked away when Sasuke noticed my grin.

Haku dropped down from his tree and grabbed hold of Zabuza's body saying he must dispose of his 'corpse'.

When he was gone, Naruto threw his temper tantrum. Kakashi stopped it and off we headed to Tazuna's house.

Not before Kakashi collapsed, of course.

At his collapse, I allowed myself a shriek of despair. I knew he'd be alright but… come on, cut a girl some slack. Watching a favorite character go down, no matter the outcome, in real life is something no one should have to go through.

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

After dragging Kakashi back to Tazuna's house and placing him to bed, I set to work on Sasuke and Naruto.

Kakashi would be fine for the moment.

I rummaged through my pack before pulling out a medical training book and flipping through. I then motioned over to Sasuke first. He seemed slightly hesitant but in the end he allowed me to finish repairing his rib.

It was only bruised, not broken. If it had been broken, I wouldn't have been able to do shit. Repairing bones is a lot more harder and complicated than easing fatigue and repairing tissue damage. So I did the best I could by sending in waves of that awesome green chakra to reimburse his rib bone and take away the fatigue.

He gave me a slight nod as a thank you.

Next was Naruto. Who only suffered from very, _very_ little fatigue. No doubt thanks to his Kyūbi. He gave me a grin and a thank you when I managed to suck away the rest of his fatigue.

And finally, Kakashi.

His was a lot more complicated since it dealt with fatigue from an overused Sharingan. I know what you're thinking—what's the difference between fatigue from Sharingan and fatigue via taijustu or exhaustion?

A huge one.

The Sharingan fatigue was from an over usage of a certain move requiring chakra. It was a strain on the chakra network.

Something of which I have no clue on how to heal.

Easing away fatigue from the chakra network is way more complicated and dangerous than just giving a boost of energy to the bones or muscles. It's more delicate than the nervous system. As such, there wasn't much I could do for Kakashi.

Because his chakra network was overused, it brought down his entire body. I could try and help ease the pain but it would require a shit ton of concentration and time. Not to mention it would probably be best if he was awake.

That way if I was doing something wrong, I'd know right away as he would feel it and let me know. He couldn't do that if he was unconscious.

So instead, I sat by his rolled out mat with a book in hand and waited for him to wake up. The book I was reading was—as always—a medical volume dealing specifically for fatigue from the chakra network.

I had figured I had might as well see what I could do for him when he woke up. Thankfully, I didn't have to wait too long…

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

A low groan brought my eyes from my book to Kakashi. He slowly stirred in his bed. All at once, my book was down and I placed a hand firmly on his chest. In a flat tone I said, "Don't move. You're suffering from chakra fatigue. Most likely from your overuse on your Sharingan."

"Once more Sakura, excellent deduction," Kakashi muttered, a sigh escaping his lips.

I beamed at his praise.

**Praise-whore.**

Review-whore.

**AH-HAH! YOU BROKE THE FOURTH WALL!**

I have no idea what you're talking about.

**Oh screw you.**

I looked up as Naruto walked in, followed closely by Tazuna, Sasuke and Tazuna's daughter.

"Sensei, you're awake," Naruto commented, grinning broadly.

"Hn. Obviously, Dobe," Sasuke muttered.

Before Naruto could make a remark I scolded both of them, "No fighting while Kakashi-sensei is feeling low. It'll only add more stress."

"Hn," Sasuke grunted. Naruto scowled.

"Anyway… just who was that masked guy?" Naruto asked, almost as an afterthought.

And thus began Kakashi's detailed explanation about the 'ANBU' for the Mist and yada, yada, yada. I kind of zoned out during it. After the explanation, things settled down.

Sasuke and Naruto were seated at the edge of Kakashi's mat, I sat frowning beside him.

Time for more praise…

**You have no shame.**

"Kakashi-sensei?" I asked.

"Mmm?" Kakashi asked, sitting up slowly.

I kept my voice down as I talked. Naruto and Sasuke were occupied with another bickering spout. "It's about Zabuza."

"What about him, Sakura?" Kakashi asked, also keeping his voice down.

"It's just…" I gave a helpless gesture. "Something doesn't feel right. The whole situation seems off."

He was quiet for a moment before he spoke again, his voice barely above a whisper. "And why do you think that, Sakura?"

"It's just that… that masked guy… he said he was a hunter-nin and all but… if he was, all he needed to do was bring back the head as proof," I explained. "Also, the weapon that the boy used to kill Zabuza is questionable. It was just a long needle…"

I fell silent again. Kakashi didn't respond so I ventured out, "Am I wrong for questioning it, Kakashi-sensei?"

"No, no Sakura," Kakashi said, his voice coming to be a dry chuckle almost. "It's just that I was thinking something alarmingly close to what you were saying, just now. You really are a bright girl, Sakura."

I couldn't stop the small blush of pride that crossed my cheeks.

**Praise-whore.**

Don't ruin this for me.

Naruto glanced over at us. "Oi, Kakashi-sensei, what's wrong?"

Kakashi glanced over at me and I nodded my head before explaining, "We were just discussing about Zabuza's death. Didn't you find it odd?"

"Well yeah, he was just a kid like us—"

"Not like that, Naruto," I interrupted. "Like how if that masked guy was really a hunter-nin, why did he take the whole body? All he needed was a head. Not to mention the weapon he used to kill was certainly suspicious…"

"It was a long needle," Sasuke said quietly before his eyes widened in realization. "You don't think…"

I nodded my head. "Maybe."

"What? What is it?" Naruto asked, glancing between us.

"What are you guys talking about?" Tazuna asked.

Kakashi sighed. "Zabuza is still alive."

"WHAT?" Naruto and Tazuna exclaimed. Naruto's eyes were wide. "But… But you confirmed it and everything, Kakashi-sensei."

"I did. But most likely he was just in a near-death state," Kakashi said, then went into a more detailed explanation for the reasoning. Once more I zoned out.

I tend to do that a lot, don't I?

**You only do that because you have a lazy authoress. **

What?

**Nothing.**

Then Kakashi explained how he was putting us through training after I commented lazily on how he was in no condition to fight.

That's when Inari decided to make his appearance. I stared at him indifferently as he insulted Naruto then commented on how we were going to die.

I chose instead to read my book while Naruto and Inari got into a small shout fest and Inari left with Naruto right behind him…

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

"We are now ready to begin training," Kakashi said, leaning on a single crutch.

The four of us were standing in the middle of a small clearing Kakashi had led us out to. Though I did protest with him quite a bit about staying in bed, he seemed adamant in his decision though.

"But before that, let me once again talk about chakra, the base for the ability as a ninja," Kakashi said. He then glanced at me. "Alright, Sakura-kun."

I quirked an eyebrow but gave Naruto the explanation of chakra. When I was finished Naruto commented on how they could do that stuff just fine and Sasuke agreed with him.

"No, you guys aren't able to use your chakra completely," Kakashi said. "Just listen up. Like Saukra said, molding the chakra means to extract energies from the body and the spirit then mixing them up. And the amount of each energy will differ in the element and body…"

I zoned out.

**You admit that so shamelessly.**

Abso-friggin'-lutely.

"…So you're going to climb a tree."

"Climb a tree?" Sasuke asked skeptically.

"That's right. But it's not ordinary tree climbing. You're going to climb a tree without using your hands," Kakashi explained.

"And just how are we supposed to do that?" Naruto asked.

"Just watch," Kakashi said, forming the hand seal. He then walked over to a tree and climbed it vertically with just his legs. When he reached the top he spoke again. "That is how. Gather your chakra at the bottom of your feet and make it attach to the tree trunk. Something like this is possible with chakra control."

"How is that supposed to help us?" Sasuke demanded.

I snorted. "Chakra control is always helpful in every situation. This training is helping us by forcing us to mold our chakra in other places besides our hands, more specifically in the hardest place—the feet. If you two can learn how to do this much, you can learn any technique. In theory, at least."

"Well said, Sakura-kun," Kakashi praised.

I beamed.

"Mm. But just lecturing isn't going to be enough. I need all of you to learn it with your bodies."

He tossed down three kunai that landed at our feet. "Use that knife to mark where you are able to climb up with your current ability. Then try to make a new mark above that mark. You guys aren't good enough to climb by walking so run to give yourself a good head start. Got it?"

Naruto grabbed his kunai and grinned. "This is going to be too easy."

Naruto then rushed forward, Sasuke following closely behind. I decided to ignore them, instead turning to Kakashi.

"Um. Kakashi-sensei?"

"Yes, Sakura?" Kakashi asked.

I gave a sheepish smile. "I already know how to do that."

"Oh? Care to show me?"

My smile turned into a grin as I walked over to the tree. I closed my eyes in brief concentration before I felt the small rush of warm chakra flow to my feet. I then put one foot on the tree and began walking. Pretty soon I was standing next to Kakashi, grinning.

"Very nice, Sakura," Kakashi amended. "Where did you learn to do that?"

"It was one of the first chakra control exercises Hinata-chan put me through," I explained.

"Aa, I'm not surprised, I suppose, considering you were already able to produce some medical training," Kakashi said. His eye crinkled in that famous eye-crinkle.

I was proud to say I managed to suppress my fangirl squeal.

He glanced at my two gaping team mates.

"That's amazing Sakura-chan! I wouldn't expect anything less than the girl I have high hopes for!" Naruto exclaimed.

I quirked an eyebrow. Did they not hear that I already had training prior to this? Why are they gaping?

**I doubt they were paying attention to yours and Kakashi's conversation. So most likely to them you just managed to walk up a tree on your very first try.**

Ah.

I glanced at Kakashi, knowing how he was going to use that assumption to his advantage. I tuned out. I didn't want fake praise.

After being insulted, my two team mates decided to be all pumped up and ready to go. They gave it another go while I turned my attention to Kakashi.

"So," I drawled, "do you mind if I worked on my medical training on you instead?"

"Me?" Kakashi asked, tilting his head slightly.

"Yes you," I answered, smiling. "You're the only one hurt at the moment."

"I suppose for now. What do you want to practice on specifically?" Kakashi asked.

I glanced around before pulling myself up on a sturdy branch and patting the spot next to me for Kakashi. He pulled himself up and sat down. "This way I don't have to worry about losing my concentration for the chakra on my feet when I perform chakra on my hands."

"That's probably for the best," Kakashi said.

I pursed my lips. "Let's see…"

My brow furrowed in concentration as I felt the rush of chakra towards my hand. It flared a pale blue before flickering to a pale green. I then held it over Kakashi's shoulder.

I could feel the weary fatigue settling over his muscles and bones. The chakra network was causing an overload of stress on his joints and tissues. I couldn't directly repair the chakra network, but I could ease the indirect fatigue.

I closed my eyes and concentrated, focused entirely on pushing away the fatigue. It was difficult. It felt completely different from any other injury I've attempted to heal. Instead of having to concentrate and force my chakra into his body, I felt my chakra being sucked away.

The book warned me about this. Because of the chakra network's instability due to overuse, it will most likely to try to drain any direct chakra into it. This was one of the reasons why healing the chakra network was so dangerous. If I allow my chakra to be sucked in by it, I could end up doing more damage than good.

So I had to forcibly push my chakra around the pull and pour it into his physical body. It was incredibly difficult. Imagine having a vacuum cleaner on, and you're holding out the sucking tube. Now imagine hold a thin, flimsy piece of paper pinched between your pinkie and your thumb. Then imagine holding that paper over the vacuum and not allowing it to be sucked in.

That's what it was like.

And after a while, my 'pinkie' was getting sore. I knew better than to push it. You don't want to take unnecessary risks when dealing with medical issues. So I recalled my chakra and leaned back, my brow covered in sweat.

I lifted my right forearm and wiped it away.

I didn't realize I was panting.

Kakashi let out a small relieved sigh. "That feels much better, Sakura. Thank you."

"No problem," I muttered, slumping slightly. "I didn't realize easing fatigue from chakra overuse was so difficult."

Kakashi inclined his head slightly. "I would imagine so. The chakra network is the most delicate thing in the human body."

"True," I muttered, glancing down at my team mates. Both looked a little worse for wear. I didn't realize I had been healing Kakashi for so long.

"They certainly have high stamina," I commented. "I better give them a boost before they push themselves too far."

"Good idea, Sakura," Kakashi murmured.

"Oh!" I exclaimed, rummaging through my back pocket. "I had a feeling you'd be stuck here doing nothing for a while so…"

I pulled out my favorite sensei's perverted book and handed it to him. "I thought you had forgotten it on the way out—probably too distracted with the whole Zabuza thing—so I grabbed it for you."

His eye crinkled. I had a feeling he was smiling at me. "Thank you Sakura-_chan_."

I beamed at the honorific before hopping down from the tree.

Just as I landed, Naruto glanced up from his latest defeat and headed over to me. "Ne, ne, Sakura-chan. Can you give me some tips? Don't tell Sasuke, though, ne, ne?"

I grinned. "Sure. While I'm at it, do you mind if I heal your bruises? I need more training too."

"'Course, Sakura-chan," Naruto said happily.

"Sit, please," I said.

Naruto plopped on the ground, crossing his legs. I placed my hand over his head and closed my eyes in concentration. As I healed away his physical fatigue and bruises, I absently gave him the requested tips. When I was finished with him, Naruto set back to work on attempting to climb the tree and I headed over to Sasuke.

Sasuke paused in his own training when I motioned him over.

"Sit," I commanded. He shrugged before sitting down on the grass, his legs crossed.

I rested my hand on his back and forced the warmth of my chakra to seep into him. He let out a small breath of relief when the tension in his muscles faded away. For a flash I felt a twinge of my own chakra falter before I pushed past it and continued the healing.

When I was finished with him, my breath came out in short shallow gasps. Between healing Kakashi, Naruto and him, I was pretty well spent.

"Hn," Sasuke muttered, his head dipping down in his own way of saying thanks.

I weakly lifted a hand and waved it off before he turned and went back to training. I stumbled over to a tree and plopped down, clenching and relaxing my fist.

**Stamina for precise chakra control. Another thing we need to work on. Whoopee. **

Goody. More training. I can't wait.

**Idiot, I'm supposed to be the sarcastic one in this relationship. So go be optimistic—this **_**is**_** a good thing.**

How?

**I mean it's good that we found the areas we need help in now, than later during the exams. Can you imagine going in the Forest of Death—only being able to heal roughly three times before your SOL?**

I suppose that's true. But how the hell can I improve endurance for holding chakra control? More specifically, holding endurance for medical chakra control?

**Practice.**

There has to be more to it than that.

**Well how the hell am I supposed to know? Look it up when we get back.**

I suppose… Still.

My breathing slowed back to its normal pace and I flexed my fingers as I watched my team mates work through half lidded eyes. Naruto landed on his head once again.

I felt a sigh pass my lips.

At least I'll get plenty of practice while I'm here.

* * *

_A/N: Normally I don't do A/Ns, to be entirely honest. But I would like to clear something up now._

_**When will this story go AU? (Alternate Universe)**  
_

_I want to do both parts of Naruto. Part I as well as Shippuden. I have to keep in mind that if I change anything too large so suddenly, I will lose track of major components of Shippuden. The changes I make will start subtle but I guarentee you will see the major differences in Shippuden. Technically it will go AU around chapter 17, as that is when the changes will be more prominent but not so obvious-as I will not deter too drastically from the plotline. It will be entirely AU after the second or third chapter into Shippuden.  
_

_I tried (and trying) my hardest to keep this cannon as possible. Please bare with me on this.  
_

_Also, thank you, everyone, who has been kind enough to leave reviews. And thank you, everyone, who has alerted and favorite'd this story so far.  
_

_I might update on Friday instead of next Tuesday. But even if I do or don't, another chapter will be posted next Tuesday.  
_

_Reviews are love.  
_


	6. RIP Demon and Snow

_Here we are... a little earlier than planned. I'll still update again on Tuesday though._

_**Disclaimer: **Naruto is Kishimoto's toy, I'm just playing with it.  
_

_**Warning:** Language.  
_

* * *

I yawned tiredly, blinking my eyes slowly as I stared dumbly at the pages in front of me. After a hard day of training yesterday—them getting hurt and me healing them, with the occasional heal for Kakashi—we had all headed back to Tazuna's, exhausted, and collapsed in to the bed. When it became clear that I was the only one fit for guarding the next day, I was sent alone.

So there I was with a pile of medical books beside me as I sat on the bridge and attempted to read one. Though for whatever reason, no matter how long I stared at the page the words just simply wouldn't process in my mind. I gave a grunt of frustration before tucking the book away for later use and pulling out another one.

It was an incredibly long, immensely dull, boring day for me, guarding Tazuna. Then it just got flat out depressing when Tazuna took me shopping.

Let me tell you, it's one thing to see a town's pain and strife through anime, and another to up close and personal with it in real life.

Then there was the pervert. Now, I remember in episode 11 he wasn't actually a pervert, just a thief, but still. I felt a smidgeon proud of myself for completely kicking his ass. Then I felt a little bad about it.

Then I felt better when I realized his nose was bleeding.

**You evil, evil little girl.**

What? I'm not a Mary-Sue. Are you trying to tell me that if some fully grown man grabbed your ass and you kicked his ass, you wouldn't feel proud of yourself? And even some small spiteful part of you wouldn't feel a little pleased you had managed to kick his ass so _thoroughly_?

**No comment.**

Then when that adorable little kid grabbed me and asked for food, I gave him food and candy before he headed off. He really was so adorable. I wanted to hug him, but I knew better. I decided I would hug Naruto the moment I got back instead.

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

When I returned, I was true to my decision. I rushed straight to the training ground, just in time too. It was when Sasuke had asked Naruto for helps on the tips I gave him and Naruto flat out rejected him.

That's when I decided to walk in. "Naruto!"

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed, grinning hugely.

I opened my arms. "I need a hug. May I please have a hug?"

Naruto's face turned bright red and he grinned sheepishly. "S-S-Sure S-Sakura-ch-chan."

He shot Sasuke a smug look before rushing over and giving me a hug. After a moment I pulled back and grinned. "Okay. That's better. Sorry, I had to hug something adorable after today…"

"What happened, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

"I saw this really, really, cute kid who needed food…" I trailed off, explaining everything that had transpired. "Anyway. I couldn't hug the cutie, so I figured I'd hug Naruto when I got back."

"So you immediately thought of Naruto when you wanted to hug a cute _kid_?" Sasuke asked, smirking.

"I also thought of you when I saw a duck's ass," I retorted. "Anyway, I overheard you asking for tips, Sasuke. If you want I can give you some."

Sasuke stared at me blankly while Naruto glowered at him. "Ne, ne, Sakura-chan. There's no need to give that guy any tips. If he wanted some, he should have just asked you directly."

I shrugged. "Maybe. But we're all team mates now, right? And team mates help each other out, no matter what."

"Where did you get duck's ass and _me_?" Sasuke asked suddenly. Or well, maybe not so suddenly. Maybe that was the only thing he focused on when I snapped back at him. Maybe that's why he was staring so blankly, as if he couldn't figure it out for himself.

"Your hair," I said, gesturing. "It looks like a duck's ass. See? The bangs are the wings and the little tuft things at the end are the ruffled feathers of a ducks' ass. Or chicken's ass if you prefer."

Sasuke's eyes widened before narrowing into annoyed slits. Naruto gaped at me before howling with laughter, clutching his sides and falling to the ground.

I rolled my eyes at his manner. "Anyway. Do you guys want to come in and eat now? The dinner's ready and when you're done I can give you a little relief from fatigue before you guys train again."

"Dinner… would probably be best," Sasuke allowed.

Naruto was still laughing.

Sasuke scowled at him. "Oi, Dobe. Get up, we're going to dinner."

Still laughing.

I shrugged. "Leave him. He'll stop eventually."

Sasuke smirked slightly. "True enough."

Sasuke and I then headed off to dinner. After a while, Naruto stopped laughing, glanced around and followed after us.

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

I'll spare you the squishy details of dinner and the sad back story for Inari and whatnot. After all that oh so fun stuff, I healed away Sasuke and Naruto's fatigue before focusing on Kakashi.

After easing Kakashi's fatigue, I decided it would probably be for the best if I crashed. So I did.

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

Once breakfast was finished, Kakashi and I headed off to the training ground to check on Naruto and Sasuke's progress. When we reached there, neither were in sight. Of course that was when Naruto decided to throw a kunai at our feet and thus present his location at being at the top of the tree…

He grinned. "See Sakura-chan!"

He was standing on a lone branch, grinning from ear to ear. Suddenly he 'lost' his footing and began to fall back. Kakashi's eyes widened while I remained indifferent.

Naruto caught himself just in time exclaiming how we had fallen for it. I mainly quirked an eyebrow at him. Then he lost his footing for real that time, only to be caught by Sasuke.

The two continued to train for the rest of the day while I was stuck on guard duty once again and devoted myself to more readings.

At the end of the day, dinner was given and more sob stories passed around. I just kind of zoned out. I've heard it one too many times during the actual episodes I could pretty much recite everyone's back story in this arc perfectly.

Kakashi went off to talk to Iniri, Naruto and Sasuke passed out and I stayed up a little late reviewing everything I had learned.

I had come only a little bit, in all honesty. I don't think I've improved that well. The only noticeable difference is my chakra doesn't flicker to green any more, it just goes straight to it from blue. It was becoming easier, I suppose.

Which, I guess, is kind of a good thing. Seeing how we'd finish the Zabuza arc tomorrow.

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

My assumption was correct when the four of us—Sasuke, Kakashi, Tazuna and me—stood on the bridge and stared at the unconscious bodies of the workers.

Not long after that the fog drifted in and I scowled slightly. Slowly we moved into position, each of us guarding each other's back.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Kakashi," Echoed the voice of Zabuza.

Once more I felt my legs warm into that disgustingly familiar feeling of jelly. My stomach clenched and my head felt lighter. My hand shook ever so slightly as I gripped the kunai.

"And I see you're still dragging around a bunch of kids," Zabuza continued, his voice sounding eerily disturbed.

Fear overtook my body for a flash as I could have sworn I heard Zabuza right next to me. I knew I was just being paranoid, that my nerves were simply on edge from the rush of adrenaline that was pumping through me and my overactive imagination.

"His hand still shakes, how pathetic."

Through the corner of my eye I saw Sasuke grip his kunai tighter, as if trying to prove Zabuza wrong. He probably was.

**Silly Uchiha's and their egos. **

At the sound of my Inner, I almost let out a cry of relief. How sad, really, that I was being comforted by the sound of my own thoughts.

But as sad and pathetic as it was, it was the truth.

Just like before, my inner personality proved almost as a foothold to reality. It became almost like a deadweight, anchoring me down to the ground and keeping my head from overflowing with panic and fear. It brought back some sense into me.

Before I could muse anymore about my thoughts, Zabuza appeared in front of us, all around us.

Beside me, Sasuke smirked.

"Idiot," Sasuke said, still smirking at Zabuza. "I'm shaking with excitement."

"Go for it, Sasuke," Kakashi said from the other side of me.

All at once, Sasuke was moving around, zipping around like a fly on a sugar high. The only thing I could do was stare in mild shock as he sliced down each of the Zabuza water clones.

Then there, at the end of the bridge stood Zabuza and Haku.

In a blink of an eye, Sasuke had launched forward at Haku. The two intercepted and met headlong into battle. Kakashi warned me to stay with Tazuna.

I jumped back and stood in front of Tazuna, pulling out a kunai and twirling it. I knew I wouldn't be of use like this—not yet. At the moment the only thing I had going for me was my medical training and that won't be of any use to anyone in the heat of battle.

Not yet anyway.

**It's best if we stay out of the way now and give a hand when needed. As much as I hate to admit it… but our—sorry **_**my**_**—perfect self would only get in the way if we interfered now.**

Perfect? Narcissist. But you're right… and I really, really hate to admit it too. I'm really going have to find some way to hold my focus in battle.

Sasuke had just finished kicking Haku's butt for the moment.

"Looks like my speed's better," Sasuke said, a mocking tone in his voice.

"You can't make fun of our team just because we have children," Kakashi said from beside me. "Sasuke is the village of Konoha's top rookie. Sakura is the village's shrewdest child. And the other one likes to show off and is the number one in surprising people. He's the noisy ninja of Konoha."

I was grinning ear to ear from Kakashi's praise.

**Praise-whore.**

Zabuza let out a dry chuckle. Before he could say anything else though—to me at least—I zoned out. Up next was Haku's mirror justu. Kakashi lurched into battle to attempt to save Sasuke but was intercepted by Zabuza.

When the time came for the kunai to land at my feet, I followed the plot line. Instead of calling out Sasuke's name though, I merely spared Tazuna a glance, smirking. Tazuna nodded his head before I sprinted forward, grabbing the kunai in the process. I then jumped in the air, throwing it. Just like in episode 13, Haku reached out and grabbed it.

Giving Naruto the chance to knock him out of the mirrors, thus making his grand appearance.

He gave his cheerful speech on defeating everyone and I grinned. Kakashi scolded him and I still grinned. My grin finally dropped though when the battle started and I had to get back to being serious.

Haku goes back in his mirrors and Kakashi and Zabuza have a stand-off. You know, usual stuff.

I watched with narrowed eyes, my eyes darting around as I tried to follow the needles. After the first round, Naruto jumped in the fray as well. Not without arguing with Sasuke first of course.

I wanted to laugh at the manner but restrained myself. Sasuke used his fireball, Haku rebutted with more needles. Naruto used his shadow replication justu, Haku jumped from mirror to mirror. Kakashi realized it was a kekkai genkai and went in to explaining what a kekkai genkai was.

Naruto got angry. Haku had a flash back then went into a monologue.

Once more I watched it all with a slightly indifferent face.

**How can you watch this so apathetically and make such nonchalant comments?**

Many reasons. Reason one, I know how this will end. What I do will not change the outcome of this battle. If I interfered too much anyway, Naruto and Sasuke wouldn't be able to grow on their own and that will kind of eff up the storyline.

Reason two, I'm still not that awesome in combat. Yes I'm sure I'll get better with practice but I'm not going to kid myself and say I could take on Haku or Zabuza at my level.

Reason three, I'm a bitch.

Reason four, none of this is directly effecting me. I'll make my move when the time is right, though I must confess I'm slightly impatient for my move to be made.

After Haku finished his monologue I cheered for Sasuke and Naruto by shouting out: DUCK-ASS! ADORABLE FLUFFY BLONDE! KICK HAKU'S ASS!

Kakashi scolded me, telling me the situation was useless and thus finally Zabuza and Kakashi started their battle.

I ran back to Tazuna and watched the battle unfold.

I think we all know how the battle went for both ends. Kakashi and Zabuza engaged in taijustu for the first part, while Naruto made multiple replications and brought Haku out which Sasuke then fireball'd. Zabuza faded into the fog to disappear from view for a while. Sasuke singed the bottom of Haku's pants.

Haku was drawn out again, this time he landed a needle in Sasuke's shoulder and kicked Naruto. Then he came out again, launching more and more needles into both Sasuke and Naruto. Recognizing where this was going, I twirled my kunai and tensed.

Zabuza appeared from behind Tazuna and this time I was ready.

Kakashi lurched to intercept Zabuza's blade before Zabuza could harm Tazuna, but I was way ahead of him. I jerked Tazuna behind me and to the left then the moment Kakashi was in front of me, I kicked his knees in and ducked.

Zabuza's blade swung right above us before Kakashi was right back up on his feet. I jumped back up on my feet and threw a kunai at Zabuza. He twisted his head to dodge it with ease, his eyes narrowed as he looked at me then Kakashi.

"While your Sharingan is supposedly sharp as ever, your senses in predicting your enemies movements has numbed, Kakashi," Zabuza growled. "Needing a mere child to assist you, how pathetic. Had it not been for her, you would have been dead."

Not necessary true, but nevertheless…

Kakashi's' eyes crinkled and I knew he was giving Zabuza his epically amazing death glare of super awesome doom.

"Nevertheless, I haven't had a battle this intense in quite some time, Kakashi. Please do entertain me more," Zabuza sneered. "Haku will beat those kids soon, so there's no need to worry about them. Cry and apologize to them about your lack of power in the other world."

He let out a dry chuckle before fading back into the mist.

"Kakashi-sensei, are you alright?" I asked, my eyes scanning around the mist for any signs of Zabuza.

"Yes, Sakura," Kakashi answered, his own eyes narrowed in concentration as he looked around the mist for Zabuza. "Good reaction time."

I beamed at his praise.

**P-R-A-I-S-E—**

Shut up!

**W-H-O-R-E!**

You suck.

"Naruto and Duck-Ass better hurry up and kick Haku's ass," I muttered as my eyes strayed over to their fight.

"Mm. After all…." Then began Kakashi's speech on how great Naruto and Sasuke were and I once again zoned out.

**Damn, I never really realized how much dialogue is put in each episode.**

Certainly a lot.

**The authoress is getting annoyed at how much she's having to type.**

The what?

**Nothing you're tiny little brain could wrap around.**

Screw you.

Through the fog I could scarcely make out Naruto's lying form and Sasuke's hunched over one.

Ah! Finally, my time to shine! Kind of.

"Tazuna," I said, "come with me."

I grabbed Tazuna's hand and slowly began to walk towards the mirrors, my eyes darted about to make sure Zabuza didn't come any closer. I knew he wouldn't—too busy with Kakashi, but I couldn't be too sure.

I was getting closer and closer, just as Sasuke fell back and Naruto darted forward to catch him. I stayed still, watching with morbid curiosity as Naruto hugged Sasuke closer and Haku slowly stood up.

When Naruto set Sasuke's body down, an ominous steam of chakra flowed around him. A feeling of dread instinctively clenched in my stomach as I watched the steam slowly turn into a swirl of red chakra.

Tazuna didn't even give Naruto a second glance, too focused in on Kakashi and Zabuza's battle and the potential of anything lurching out from the fog. Not that I was complaining, I didn't feel like explaining anything to him.

Naruto grabbed Haku and released a sharp amount of unpleasant chakra on Haku. The mirrors shattered and I braced myself in front of Tazuna. Haku was pushed away with Naruto right behind him and that's when I rushed towards Sasuke.

Finally, I can put my medical training to use. Now I don't feel _completely_ useless.

"Tazuna, stayed beside me," I ordered. Tazuna's eyes widened but did as he was told.

My eyes scanned over Sasuke's body, I frowned. I grabbed the first needle—lodged in Sasuke's shoulder and pulled it out slowly. Blood slowly pulled out behind it but I placed my hand over it, pressing down.

My brow creased and I forced the warmth of my chakra towards my hand. It flickered a blue before fading into a pale green. I then began to picture melding the tissue and muscles back together. I was lucky I hadn't reached any broken bones yet—if he had any that is.

Ever so slowly his first injury began to repair under my hand. Muscles folded back to each other, skin melded together. When his shoulder was finished I moved on to his other shoulder. I repeated the process.

It was a painstakingly long process. I wasn't a super awesome medical ninja so I had to go slowly and carefully, making sure I had everything knitted up correctly. Thankfully—and I did mean thankfully—he had no broken bones. A bruised shoulder and ribs, but nothing fractured. Thank God, or Kami, or Jashin or whoever runs this world.

Thank Pein if you must.

His stomach was probably the hardest heal though, simply because of his stomach acids kept wanting to burn through the new raw tissue I created for it. After a couple more tries though, I finally got the hang of it. When his stomach was all closed up and his tissues repaired, I moved on to his legs.

Sasuke had still not awoken after I finished the majority of his injuries. Which didn't surprise me. He was suffering from blood loss along with fatigue and I was kinda sure he was pretty much out of it from adrenaline rush.

Finishing up another injury on his left calf, I glanced up. My breath was starting to come out in short shallow gasps, I was reaching my chakra controlling limit. Much to my surprise it appeared Haku was finishing up his back story. It would appear that I had gotten very absorbed in my healing. I glanced back down at Sasuke and sighed. My hands moved on to his next injury…

The sound of sharp, crackling electricity brought me back from my trance of rhythmic healing. I had just finished closing the last wound to look up and see Haku sacrificing himself for Zabuza. My eyes widened briefly, both at how tense the atmosphere had become and at how I had become so absorbed in my healing I missed the rest of the major fight scene.

Sasuke remained unconscious as the summoned dogs poofed away. The Chidori faded and Haku weakly gripped Kakashi's hand. Zabuza lifted his sword in the air, preparing to swing it down upon. Kakashi grabbed Haku, lifting up into the air and spinning away from the attack.

Naruto rushed forward but Kakashi dismissed him with a few sharp words, stating it was his own battle.

Kakashi and Zabuza rushed forward, Kakashi kicking some major ass until, finally being able to knock out Zabuza's sword and immobilized his arms.

It was at that moment that that Gato decided to make himself known.

"Looks like you got beaten pretty badly. I'm disappointed Zabuza," He sneered. Right behind him stood a mob of nasty-looking men.

I scowled at the cliché-ness of it all.

"Gato… Why are you here?" Zabuza growled out. "And what's with those subordinates?"

Gato's sneer widened. "We had a change of plans. I'm sorry, Zabuza, but you're going to die here."

Zabuza's eyes widened briefly before narrowing into furious slits. "What?"

"If I rent official ninja, it would cost a lot of money. So I rented an missing-nin, like you," Gato explained, his voice carrying out across the bridge. "If you ninja had killed each other, it would have saved me the trouble and money. And you call yourself the Demon of the Mist? You're just a cute little demon to me."

Behind Gato the group of men gwuaffed.

Zabuza muttered something to Kakashi, too muffled for me to hear clearly. But I could take a good guess. Gato stepped forward, walking to Haku's body. His sneer took on a more nasty side to it as he stared down at it. "Oh yes, I owe this guy a favor… for gripping my hand until it broke."

He kicked Haku's body.

Naruto erupted with rage, screeching and rushing forward. Kakashi grabbed him just in time, restraining him. My eyes narrowed into furious slits as well.

Zabuza and Naruto exchanged a few words, Zabuza's words too muffled from the distance for me to clearly pick out. But I knew where it was going. I glanced down at Sasuke's unconscious body and finally moved my hand to his forehead to begin healing away his fatigue.

Before I began though, I peeked up through my bangs to see Zabuza rush forward, kunai in his mouth and slice through the mob. I must say, it was just as bad-ass in real life as it was on the episode. Though from my angle, I couldn't see him clearly knock off Gato, but I heard the terrified scream of the pathetic man as he fell backwards into the water.

I watched through wide eyes as Zabuza stumbled forward towards Haku's body before he fell to the cold ground, unmoving.

I glanced away, my chest oddly tight. I swallowed once before pushing my chakra through my body and to my hand. It glowed blue before it faded to a pale green. My hand shook slightly, I knew this would be my last heal for a while.

Thankfully, it didn't take much to push back his fatigue enough to give him consciousness. The moment his eyes fluttered open, I retracted my hand and stopped my chakra flow. He let out a soft groan as he glanced up at me tiredly.

"Sakura?" He muttered. "Where the hell…? Where's Naruto? What happened…?"

"Welcome back to the living, Duck-Ass," I said, smiling. He gave me a mock glare, too tired to put any real energy in it as he slowly sat up.

"Try not to move too quickly," I said, placing my hands firmly on his shoulder.

He dismissed me with a wave of his hand, glancing down at his body. "How…?"

"I believe a 'thank you Sakura', would do just nice," I said, quirking an eyebrow.

His eyes widened as he looked up at me. "You… saved my life."

I snorted. "I don't know what you're talking about. I just gave you a hand. You would have been fine."

"No, I wouldn't have," Sasuke denied, looking down at his body, twisting it this way and that. He winced when he twisted the wrong way.

"Trust me. You would have," I assured him.

He shook his head, looking down at his body still. "You actually healed me."

"Yes Sasuke. That's what I do," I said dryly.

He raised an eyebrow. "But still… I didn't think you'd actually be able to…"

I placed a hand over my chest in mock hurt. "Oh you wound me so…"

A large shout brought both Sasuke's and my own gaze towards the mob as they charged forward. But before they got too close, an arrow shot down from the sky and landed before them.

I think you know the rest.

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

The next day the four of us headed back to the village after bidding farewell to everyone. And thus, at long last, concluded the Zabuza arc.

* * *

_This has made me sad. I like Haku and Zabuza but they must die in order for Naruto and Duck-I mean, Sasuke, to undergo character development. The only way for them to have stayed alive is if Sakura somehow magically procured a large amount of battle experience and power overnight and overwhelmed them into submission. Or she snuck off and murdered Gato but once again, she isn't quite skilled enough to slip past her ex-ANBU mentor. Pity...  
_

_R.I.P. Zabuza & Haku  
_

_Reviews are love.  
_

_Starting the Exams next chapter. Goodie.  
_

_See you next Tuesday.  
_


	7. Chūnin Exams Introduction

_And so the Exams begin..._

_**Disclaimer: **Naruto is Kishimoto's toy, I'm just playing with it. I don't own Abridged either.  
_

_**Warning: **Language.  
_

* * *

Almost three weeks have passed since the Zabuza arc. During those three weeks, team 7 has been kept to doing small jobs and light training. After working with my team, I would head off to the training grounds with Hinata.

The first time I met up with Hinata after the Zabuza arc, I gave her a brief run down on what I'd like to specifically improve in i.e., how many times I can heal someone before fatigue presses down on me, how to keep focus and concentration in the heat of battle in order to heal myself, quicker reaction time, also more improvement on my taijutsu in general.

Hinata, being the amazingly-epically-adorably-awesome person she was, knew exactly how to help me in most of the areas.

From four to ten we trained during those almost-four-weeks. For the first two hours we worked on endurance, both Hinata and I finally being able to reach the two-hour limit of nonstop attacks at the end of our almost-four-weeks training session.

The next hour we worked on taijutsu. Dodging and delivering blow. Mostly we spent the first half hour going through drills; tumbling, flipping, punching and kicking. The next we would spend sparring.

The following hour was a little different for both of us. Hinata needed more help with her taijutsu(she was just fine enduring blows, kind of, but her overall damage with strictly taijutsu was a little below average. Not that I'm complaining, she's too adorable for me to be complaining) and I needed help with keeping focus in battle long enough to heal. So she would hit me and after a couple of hits, I would try to heal. The first week of doing this, she gave me space and time to gather my focus and heal. The following weeks she just charged right through.

I must confess, I quite sucked that first week at it. Every time she charged at me, I lost focus and my chakra would fade. Towards the end of the first week she gave me a few tips to keep my focus. My inner was a huge help also. Only on the last day of our training was I able to successfully able to heal myself in battle.

The last two hours were a little different for both of us. I needed help in healing more than just flesh tissue. Inner was right that practice was the key to expanding my endurance, so during those two hours I would heal my fatigue and Hinata's. Once I finished, Hinata would practice her gentle palm technique on me. It kind of sucked at first, but I knew she needed some kind of practice dummy so I volunteered. Usually my chakra was blocked for about ten minutes each. During that time Hinata and I would stick to taijutsu without chakra which was immensely tiring—at least for myself. Then at the end of the ten minutes when my chakra came back, I healed away our fatigue and we started again.

This daily training was extremely tiring for both of us, the moment I reached 'home', I crashed in bed and slept. I rarely took a shower at night anymore, simply too tired to do shit about it. Occasionally I'd be able to stay up a little later after training, during that time though I usually read more medical books.

Anyway, that was pretty much all that happened. Completely uneventful and boring. At least it was… until at long last… the Chūnin Arc arrived.

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

It was after another meaningless mission of walking dogs. We were all heading in the same direction when a hawk sounded from above.

Sasuke and Naruto were bickering again so they didn't notice, but Kakashi noticed. His head tilted up as he looked up at the sky, the hawk crying out again.

"Now then, huh?" he mused, so quietly, under his breath.

I felt a frown pass over my face for a moment as a sense of déjà vu washed over me.

Sasuke started walking away, pulling my attention from my all-time favorite white-haired man.

"Oi, Duck-Ass," I called.

He paused, glancing over his shoulder, his eyes narrowed.

"We're still going to spar tomorrow, right?" I asked.

At that question Naruto's eyes widened. "What? When did you two make plans? Sakura-chan why do you want to spar with him?"

Sasuke and I momentarily ignored Naruto. Forgive me oh-adorable-one. Sasuke smirked slightly. "Hn. Of course."

Then without another backwards glance he headed off. Only then did I answer Naruto's question. "Well… I've been wanting to improve my medical training, as you know, and I've been privately sparring with Hinata-chan for a while now… She's been a great help and all but I'm afraid I might be getting too used to her fighting style. So I figured I'd test my theory and spar with Sasuke."

"Then why not spar with me, Sakura-chan?" Naruto pouted.

"'Cause I couldn't dream of harming that adorable face," I cooed, moving my hand to pat his cheek. "And Sasuke was the one complaining about not finding a suitable sparring partner. I may not be the best but I'd like to imagine I might be able to endurance through most—if not all—of his attacks. Or outwit. Who knows."

Naruto sighed. "Damn it… why didn't I think about asking Sakura-chan first…?"

Suddenly a bright light flashed above my head. I grinned. "Ne, ne, Naruto~"

"Hmm?" Naruto asked.

"Hinata-chan could probably use a sparring partner too~" I sung. "Why don't you spar with her?"

Naruto brightened. "Really? You think she'd want to spar with me?"

"Abso-friggin'-lutely," I said, nodding my head. "I'll talk to her tonight when we train, okay?"

Naruto beamed. "Thanks Sakura-chan!"

Before I could reply, there was a loud poof from behind us. I turned around to see Kakashi was gone. I gave a slight inward pout.

**Aww… someone sad their sensei is gone?**

Yes! I wanted to walk a little more with him. Damn it.

**Someone has a crush on their sensei?**

It's not a crush. In a fan girl idolization.

**Well does someone have a crush on anyone?**

Not that I know of.

**Not even a little?**

I don't think so. I used to have a crush on Tobi.

**But he's old.**

So is Kakuzu and I had a crush on him too.

**That's just disturbing.**

Meh. I thought his voice was sexy in dubbed.

**Okay… I guess I can understand **_**that**_**. But what about now? I don't suppose you like Duck-Ass?**

Just because I'm Sakura now, doesn't mean I'm going to be giving SasuSaku fans any help.

**What about NaruSaku?**

Ew. No. I think of him as a brother now. Besides, I support NaruHina. Hinata and him are just too cute together. Don't you dare try to deny it.

**Hey who are they?**

I was pulled out of my zonings to see Konohamaru, Moegi, Udon, Naruto… and Kankuro and Temari? Damn it! I missed their big entrance.

Kankuro was holding Konohamaru up and glaring at the kid. "You're very energetic, kid. That actually hurt."

Naruto glowered at Kankuro before rushing forward. "Let him go!"

Kankuro smirked, using his free hand he waggled his fingers. Naruto fell face first into the ground. I scowled.

"Oi, make-up boy," I said, stepping up. "Put the brat down."

Kankuro's eyes narrowed. "Stay out of this, little girl."

I placed my hands on my hip. "Let him go or I'll kick the shit out of you, doll boy."

"Doll—?" Kankuro's face flushed and he prepared to move his fingers again. In the same instant my hand dropped down to my side, pulling out a kunai and twirling it in my fingers.

Before anything could happen though, a rock flew out of the air and hit Kankuro on the hand. Kankuro winced and released Konohamaru. The kid fell to the ground before scrambling away. Kankuro glared and looked up to where the rock came from.

There looking like some wannabe cool guy, sat Sasuke in the tree branch. He was smirking, tossing a rock up and down in the air with his left hand. "What do you think you're doing here?"

"Tch," Kankuro growled. "Another kid that pisses me off…"

Sasuke stopped throwing the rock, catching it in the air and then crushing it in his hands. He glared. "Get lost."

"Hey, come down, kid," Kankuro said, glaring right back up at Sasuke. "I hate kids like you, who think they're so clever." Kankuro reached behind him, pulling down his mummified puppet.

"You're going to use Karasu?" Temari asked, her eyes wide.

Before anything more could happen, a single, chilling voice broke through the air.

"Kankuro, stop."

Sasuke's eyes widened, as did my own. There, behind Sasuke was Gaara. He stared down at us—mainly at Kankuro with an apathetic gaze. "You're a disgrace to our village."

I continued to stare at him, my eyes wide. This is…

"Why do you think we came all the way here to Konoha?" Gaara continued, his voice a deep whisper. A hushed voice, almost. But held no emotion in it.

That is…

I didn't pay attention to Kankuro's pitiful excuse.

"Shut up," Gaara said, his voice never rising.

Holy tamoli it's…

"I'll kill you," Gaara finished, his eyes narrowing.

I don't believe it…

"Excuse them," Gaara said, turning towards me and the others. He then dispersed into sand, reappearing on the ground. "Let's go. We didn't come here to fool around."

He, Temari and Kankuro slowly turned to leave before I found myself stopping them. "Wait."

They paused, Temari and Kankuro looking back. I took a step forward, hesitantly. "You're here for the Chūnin Exams, right?"

"Chūnin Exams?" Naruto asked. I gave him an impatient wave of my hand, motioning that I'd explain it to him later.

"Correct," Temari answered.

I smiled and gave a slight bow. "I'm Sakura Haruno, I'd like to personally welcome you three to Konoha."

Both Temari and Kankuro looked a little caught off guard by my—I'm sure—unnervingly warm hospitality. I could definitely feel the questioning gazes of my team mates.

"I'm Temari," Temari said after a moment.

"Kankuro," Kankuro said.

Gaara had slowly turned around now, his apathetic gaze meeting my own. "I am Gaara—"

_Of the Funk!_

"—Of the Sand."

"It's a pleasure," I greeted them. "This is my teammates, Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzamaki." I gestured to each of them separately. "I hope you have a_ very_ nice day."

Sasuke had now jumped down from his tree, staring at me skeptically. Gaara gave an ever so slight nod of his head before he began walking away, Temari and Kankuro right behind him.

Never before had I ever expected this outcome.

It was official.

I was now a Gaara fan girl.

Up close and personal, he really was as cute as everyone claimed him to be. I never really gave him a second look for fan girl material to be perfectly honest when I watched the series but… seeing him in real life—he was friggin' cute… and hot at the same time! How is that possible?

I don't know how, but it was. With his panda bear eyes and amazing voice… it's damn near impossible not to adore him.

Inner, I now have another goal.

**And what might that be, Outer?**

I am going to become friends with Gaara, I decided.

**…That's it? No GaaSaku love going on? What the hell, that's too anticlimactic. Some readers would like a little romance you know.**

No time for such silly things! Now is the time for making plans in becoming BFFs with Gaara.

**… You disturbed little child.**

"I don't suppose you'd mind explaining what that was about?" Sasuke asked after the sand trio was out of ear shot.

"Yeah Sakura-chan, why did you get so friendly all of a sudden?" Naruto voiced.

"He's amazing," I breathed, still staring at the spot where I had last seen Gaara. "I want to hug him, so bad."

"Who's amazing?" Naruto asked, both eyebrows raised.

Sasuke stared at me for a moment before frowning. "You mean… Gaara?"

I nodded my head absently. "Don't you just want to hug him? Did you see his eyes? Weren't they phenomenal? No… weren't they absolutely adorable? Didn't they remind you of a panda?"

Sasuke shook his head in exasperation. "I don't believe you. You've become a fan girl for him."

"Yes," I said breathlessly. "Yes I believe I have."

Naruto was gaping at me. "But he… he was so cold…!"

I waved my hand in a dismissive gesture. The gesture must have seen familiar because Naruto's eyes widened briefly before he asked, "What are the Chūnin Exams?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Dobe."

"Teme!" Naruto growled.

"The Chūnin exams are a form of selection for Genin to obtain the Chūnin rank, if you pass that is," I answered. I then shook my head. "Enough about this… I better get going…"

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

The next morning we were all gathered on the bridge.

"Good morning everyone," I greeted. Sasuke looked completely zoned out while Naruto looked slightly irritated by Kakashi's late arrival.

I turned to Naruto. "Hinata-chan said she's willing to spar with you tonight at the training grounds around seven—so long as nothing comes up, that is."

Naruto's irritation faded and he grinned at me. "Yatta! Thanks Sakura-chan~"

"Oh don't thank me," I replied, grinning. "I'm doing this just as much for Hinata-chan as I am for you."

"Sakura," Sasuke said. "What time are we sparring?"

"Seven or six is okay with me," I replied. "Do you want to meet at training ground five?"

"Hn. Alright."

It was at that moment Kakashi decided to present himself. "Good morning gentlemen and Sakura-chan."

I beamed at the honorific.

**Praise-whore.**

"I got lost in the path known as life today…"

"LIAR!" Naruto exclaimed.

Kakashi's eye crinkled. This time I couldn't tell which one. It was either his oh-how-amusing-you-caught-me-oh-well or his I'm-only-smiling-at-you-because-I'm-fantasizing-ways-of-killing-you. Hmm…

"I'll get right to the point, then," Kakashi said. "I recommended all of you to the Chūnin exam, so…"

Kakashi pulled out three faded-brown pieces of paper, handing them to each of us. We each took one. "However, the recommendation does not force you to take it. You can decide if you want to take it or not."

"Yes! I love you Kakashi-sensei," Naruto shouted, rushing up and jumping on Kakashi. Kakashi gave a start of surprise before prying the hyperactive Genin off him.

I smiled. Kakashi continued. "Only those who wish to take it are to sign the application and five days after that, get to school by 3 PM and go to room 301. That is all."

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

"Hey Sasuke," I greeted.

Sasuke stood, leaning against a tree in the training grounds. No one else was around but I knew Hinata and Naruto were sparring a few grounds away from us. When Sasuke noticed me he pushed off from the tree, walking up to meet me.

"Just on time," He said.

I grinned. "Too bad Kakashi-sensei doesn't have my punctuality."

He snorted.

"Alright," I said. "Is there anything you want to work on specifically?"

He shook his head. "No. You?"

"Yes," I confessed. "I'm having trouble holding focus in battle long enough to perform a heal. I kind of got the hang of it a couple days ago but… it doesn't always work. I think practice will play a major key for it."

"Okay," He said. "I suppose we could work on some taijutsu. Unless you want to try some Ninjutsu…"

I winced. "I don't actually… know any Ninjutsu."

He raised an eyebrow. "That's something I'd expect from Naruto, not you."

I gave him a sheepish smile. "I've been so focused on learning medical and taijutsu I just haven't really had the time."

He nodded his head. "I understand. I don't blame you for it either. Medical training is supposed to be really complicated and takes a lot of time to learn."

"Huh, I didn't expect you to be so understanding," I said, a little surprised.

He snorted.

"So… do you mind if we stick to taijutsu for the first half? Then you can work on your Ninjutsu while I try and heal away my fatigue while trying to dodge you…" I trailed off.

He nodded his head, smirking slightly. "Sure. Ready?"

I let out a soft breath. "Ready."

He rushed forward.

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

All in all it was a very good sparring/ training. By the end I was able to remain focused roughly seventy-five percent of the time. A nice improvement from before. Not to mention Sasuke said he felt more comfortable using his fireball jutsu, after repetitive use on an actual moving target. So it was a win-win for both of us in the end. We said our goodbyes and headed our separate ways.

On the way back home though, I ran into Naruto and questioned about his sparring.

He grinned hugely before answering that it was amazing. Hinata was really nervous at first but once they actually started she was really great. He said he learned a lot of things from her. If they stuck, however, only time will tell.

The next four days went by smoothly, none of us had any missions so we spent all the time training. The last day before the exams, however, I advised everyone to take a breather and relax.

Much to my surprise, Iruka and Kakashi didn't test us.

I guess Kakashi was confident enough in our abilities this time around.

I couldn't hide my huge beaming grin at that prospect.

**Praise-whore.**

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

The first day of the exams, the three of us arrived together. We entered the academy and headed up the stairs. When we reached the top, we arrived on the scene.

"…A Chūnin is a commander of a squad," Sneered one. I didn't pay attention to which.

The three of us walked on the scene, Lee and Ten-Ten on the ground with Neji staring indifferently at them. I ignored the rest of what they were saying, following behind Sasuke and Naruto.

"That's a sound argument. But I will pass," Sasuke said.

I tilted my head. "And while you let us pass, undo the genjutsu. We want to head to the third floor."

"Oh? You noticed?" One of them asked, glancing between Sasuke and me.

"'Course we did," I snorted. "We can count. This is the second floor."

"Hn," The other grunted, smirking slightly at me. "You're pretty good. But just being able to detect it isn't enough…"

He twisted in the air, raising his leg. Sasuke reacted first, pulling out his leg to meet his. Before either of the two could collide, Lee was right between them, grabbing both of them. He released them both.

Sasuke stepped back. Neji and Ten-Ten walked towards Lee. "Oi, you broke the promise. You're the one who wanted to hide our abilities."

"But…" Lee said helplessly, glancing over at me.

Ten-Ten sighed, shaking her head. Neji glanced over at me.

Lee walked over to me.

Oh shit I knew where this was going.

**Run honey run.**

Too late. "My name is Rock Lee. You're Sakura-san, right?"

"Um… yes…" I said hesitantly.

He grinned, closing one eye in a wink and holding up a thumb. "Let's go out together! I will protect you until I die!"

His teeth sparkled.

I inwardly cringed. "No… No let's not."

"What?"

"No… just… no…" I said, inching closer to Sasuke and Naruto.

You don't suppose they'd let me use them as shields?

**I'm sure Naruto will.**

I don't think Hinata would appreciate me doing that to her future husband. And I'd be a bad mother if I did that.

**Mother? What the hell?**

I've decided I'm going to adopt Naruto. I think I'll tell him the good news after the exams before he leaves to train with Pervy-Sage.

**I don't think he'll find that as good news…**

Psh-aw.

During my inward musings, I had once again zoned out long enough to miss Sasuke and Neji's introduction.

"Mmm…" I murmured, grabbing Naruto and Sasuke's hands. "Let's go boys. I want to hurry up and take the exams already."

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

When we reached the top floor, we were stopped by the voice. The voice of Lee that is.

"You there with the sharp eyes. Wait."

We all stopped, glancing up to find Lee above us on a balcony.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked.

"Will you fight me right here, right now?" Lee asked.

"Right here, right now?" Sasuke repeated, his eyes narrowing. I let out a soft sigh. Lee jumped down from the balcony.

"My name is Rock Lee," He said. "You're supposed to identify yourself before you ask for someone else's name, right? Uchiha, Sasuke-kun."

"So you knew my name already?" Sasuke muttered.

Lee positioned himself in a fighting stance, his legs spread apart, tensed and waiting. "Let's fight. I would like to see how my moves will do against a descendant of the genius ninja clan. Also…"

He glanced at me. He blushed, his face completely serious. "Sakura-san, I love you."

I gawked. "What the hell?"

"You're an angel," Lee said. He then blew me a kiss.

And I swear to God/Kami/Pein/Jashin… a heart flew out at me. An honest to god anime heart. Right at me.

My eyes bulged. I dodged to the left. It landed with a sickening splat against a stone pillar behind me.

"Very nice. How about this?" Lee then sent a barrage of hearts at me.

"THAT'S NOT NATURAL!" I shrieked, dodging most of them before ducking behind Sasuke. "KISS DUCK-ASS! NOT ME…!"

Sasuke scoffed at me. "Are you using me as a shield?"

"Damn straight! Not shut up and shield me."

He rolled his eyes at me before turning back to Lee. "So you're challenging me knowing my name is Uchiha? I'm sorry to say this, but you're ignorant. Do you really want to see what the name Uchiha is capable of, fuzzybrows?"

"Please," Lee said, positioning once more in a fighting stance.

We all know where this was going. Before they could actually fight, Naruto intervened, Lee single handedly kicked his butt, knocking him out against the wall. I rushed over and healed Naruto's ever so slight concussion—huzzah for me! Finally he and Sasuke start fighting. Long story short… Lee kicked Sasuke up in the air preparing to do his Leaf Hurricane…

When Gai kind of makes his appearance.

A paper windmill flies across the room, catching Lee's attention. The moment Lee sees it, his eyes trail after to where it came from. He quickly disengages from battle, flipping in the air to kneel before… a turtle.

Sasuke then begins to fall from his position, high up in the air. Seeing how he was incapable of flipping and landing correctly, I rushed forward to catch him. Excellent timing on my part. I caught him in my arms and we slid across the floor.

"Let me heal you," I said after helping Sasuke into a sitting position.

He spared me a glance before nodding slightly. I moved my hand to the bruise on his cheek, pulling out the chakra in me and letting it flow to my hand. After weeks of training and intense practice my hand no longer waited to turn blue. It flickered once a pale green, before holding a steady rhythm. In a matter of seconds the bruise was gone. I moved on to his bruised ribs and stiff shoulder.

While that was happening Gai was scolding Lee. When I finished my healing Sasuke gave me a slight nod as thanks, though his glare was still fixated on Lee and Gai.

Then the turtle poofed and appeared the real form of Gai. Naruto and Sasuke gawked while I merely raised an eyebrow.

Gai scolded Lee some more and then they embraced and… wow an actual sunset appeared behind them as they cried in each other's arms.

I had to give them a little credit. It takes major skill to pull out a sunset background.

I cleared my throat. "Anyway… so… don't you think we should you know… head off to turn in our applications now?"

Before Gai notices we're Kakashi's kids and wants to prolong us even more…

Too late.

Time to zone out.

I wonder what Gaara is doing right now…

**Probably waiting for the exams to start after turning in his application.**

Probably… I wonder what Kakashi is doing right now…

**Waiting for us, of course.**

I wonder what Kisame is doing…

**…I have no clue on that one. Killing some people? Cleaning Samehada? Drinking tea with Itachi?**

What about Tobi?

**I have even less of an idea for that one. Is he even a recruit yet? Or is he totally off the charts from the world until Shippuden?**

That's a very good question. Do you think he'll answer it when we see him?

**I think he'll kill us when we see him.**

You don't know that…

**…Pretty sure I do.**

Bah.

I noticed that Gai and Lee were gone. Damn it I missed their exit!

I shook my head. "So… we going?"

"Yeah," Sasuke said. "Let's go."

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

We stood outside room 301. In front of us stood Kakashi.

"You can officially register for the Chūnin exams," Kakashi said. "To tell you the truth, this exam can only be taken in teams of three. I said you could take it individually so none of you would pressure the other into it—not that I think any of you would do that."

"But the three of you came here of your own will," Kakashi continued, "Sakura… Naruto… Sasuke… Well done."

His eye crinkled into his I'm-very-pleased-with-you crinkle and I beamed.

"I'm proud of you three, as you are my team."

My beam just went super-nova.

**Praaaaiiisseee-whhoooorrreeee**

Kakashi stepped aside and Sasuke, Naruto and I stepped forward, opening the doors to reveal the first test of the Chūnin exams.

* * *

_I wonder oh wonder what will become of the exams?_

_Oh, wait. I already know.  
_

_Reviews are love. See you either Friday or next Tuesday.  
_


	8. First Test

_Thank you very much for the many reviews. I hope my story continues to be satisfactory._

_**Disclaimer: **Naruto is Kishimoto's toy. I'm just playing with it.  
_

* * *

We entered the room, only to find it packed to the brim with young adults and older teenagers, all dressed in dark clothing with menacing auras.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed and Naruto's eyes widened. I stared right back at them with complete indifference. The stare down continued for a few more seconds until Ino's voice rung through the tense air, breaking the dramatic atmosphere.

"Sasuke-kun you're here!" She called out, rushing to Sasuke and lurching onto his back.

Sasuke gave her a very annoyed look, his eyes narrowed into slits and his mouth pressed down into a frown. Ino completely ignored the get-the-hell-off-me-before-I-get-a-friggin'-restraining-order look he was giving her, instead continuing on with her high pitched-almost-a-squeal voice. "I've been eagerly waiting for you ever since I heard that I could see you for the first time in a long time."

"Ino-chan!" I called out, my eyes widening and my mouth stretching into a grin. Ino took notice of me before she matched my grin with a huge smile of her own.

"Sakura-chan!" She called back, momentarily climbing off of Sasuke to rush over to me. We hugged epically.

"Congrats on making it," I said. "I knew you would."

"Thanks, you too Sakura," She said.

Before I could reply, Shikamaru and Chōji walked up to us. Shikamaru kept his hands stuck in his pockets as he asked, "What, are you three going to take this troublesome exam, too?"

"Hey, it's the idiot trio," Naruto said with a grin.

"Stop calling us that. How annoying," Shikamaru said, annoyance slightly tinged in his voice.

"Yeah! Found you all," Scoffed Kiba as he, Hinata and Shino headed over to us. 'So I see that everyone is here."

"Hinata-chan!" I called out, rushing over to Hinata and glomping her.

"S-S-Sakura-ch-chan. H-Hello…" Hinata said in her quiet voice.

"Oi, oi, Naruto," I said with a mock glare, "say hello to Hinata-chan."

Naruto grinned at her. "Hey Hinata, thanks for the match. I hope we can do it again sometime."

"O-Oh, I-I-I w-w-would l-like th-that Na-Naruto-kun," Hinata murmured, her face beet red as she glanced at me helplessly.

I gave her a sly wink.

"What? So you three made it, too? Geeze," Shikamaru muttered.

"I see, so all nine Genin rookies this year are going to take the exam. How far do you think we can get, Sasuke-kun?" Kiba asked, a smirk on his face.

Ino forgotten, Sasuke turned to Kiba, making a smirk of his own. "You seem to be confident, Kiba."

"We trained like hell. We won't lose to you," Kiba scoffed.

"Shut up. Putting Sasuke aside, I won't lose to you," Naruto said, his eyes flashing eagerly.

"S-Sorry Naruto-kun, Kiba-kun d-d-didn't m-mean i-it that w-way," Hinata said, her fingers pushing together.

I gave her a side hug and she blushed lightly before returning the hug.

"Ne, ne, Hinata-chan are you ready for this?" I asked her.

"O-Of c-course I am, S-Sakura-ch-chan," Hinata said.

I glanced over at Ino. "Are you, Ino-chan?"

Ino gave me a mock scoff, her eyes lit up in amusement. "Naturally. This is _me_ we're talking about here."

I stuck my tongue at her. "Narcissist."

"Who gave you amazing hair," Ino retorted.

"My hair is amazing," I agreed. "Thanks again for it."

Ino shrugged. "No problem."

That's when _he_ showed up. "Hey you guys. You should quiet down a little."

Kabuto walked up to us and all at once my amusement vanished, replaced with veiled anger.

"So you're the nine rookies that just graduated from the academy, correct?" Kabuto continued, "You're all fooling around with those cute faces… Geeze, this isn't a field trip."

"Who are you to tell us that?" Ino snapped, her face screwing up into a scowl.

"I am Yakushi Kabuto. Look around you…" He said, gesturing to the room.

Everyone but me glanced around the room. I kept my glare locked on to Kabuto.

"…The ones behind you are from the Otogakure. They have a short temper."

Glareglareglareglareglare….

**What the hell are you trying to do? Make him spontaneously combust?**

If only. I'm still not strong enough to take him on so I can't do shit to him and it pisses me off.

**You better take a damn chill pill. You'll get your chance…**

Damn straight I will…

"…Everyone is tense since it's right before the exams. I warned you so that you won't get picked on." He smiled. "I guess it can't be helped though, since you are just rookies who don't know anything. It makes me remember the old me."

I scowled at him.

"So is this your second time, then?" Naruto asked.

"No. My seventh," Kabuto said. "This exam only takes place twice every year, and it's my fourth year."  
"Is the Chūnin Exam that difficult? This is getting even more troublesome," Shikamaru sighed.

"Maybe I should give my cute underclassmen some information, then…" Kabuto reached into his back pocket, shuffling his hand in his pack before pulling out a small deck of cards.

I tried to make glare holes through the cards into the back of his head. As he explained the cards, I slightly fantasized of ways he might spontaneously burst into combustion.

"Are there any cards there that have detailed personal information?" Sasuke asked after the explanation.

"Yes. Is there someone that interests you?" Kabuto asked.

"The information of this exam's examinees are not perfect, but I've burned and saved them," Kabuto said as he reshuffled his deck. "They include information of the nine of you as well. Tell me whatever you know about the people you know that interest you. I'll look it up for you."

"Gaara from the Hidden Sand, and Rock Lee from Konoha," Sasuke said.

"Oh, you know their names. Then it won't take much time," Kabuto said, reshuffling the deck again.

He pulled out two cards, presenting them to Sasuke. He then gave the whole run down for Lee then Gaara. When he was done, he put away his cards and smiled again.

Why wouldn't he burst just into flames already?

"I'm starting to lose my confidence," Hinata whispered beside me. I glanced at her sharply.

"Don't be silly Hinata-chan. You'll do amazing. Just like we practiced, okay? You show everyone who's boss," I whispered back to her.

Hinata glanced at me, a smile on her face. "Y-You're right S-Sakura-ch-chan."

I smiled at her. "'Course I am."

I poked Ino in the arm, she glanced at me and Hinata. "When we finish the exams, how about all of us head out for some dinner?"

"That sounds nice," Ino said, smiling.

Hinata smiled as well. "A-Alright."

"Excellent," I chirped.

"ALRIGHT!" Shouted Naruto. That's when my eyes snapped forward. Ooh shit I missed his mini-inner-self-conflict-fit. Oh well. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I'm not going to lose to any of you! Got that?"

Palm, meet Face.

"What the hell?" Ino demanded.

**What the hell indeed.**

"You talk big, Naruto," Kiba said, smirking slightly.

I sighed, shaking my head in exasperation. "That's our Naruto…"

That's when the hidden sound ninjas decided to assault Kabuto.

Woo-hoo!

Damn it, Kabuto dodged. But his glasses cracked… and then he fell to the ground before coughing up blood.

I tried my best not to smirk in satisfaction.

"K-Kabuto-san!" Naruto said, his eyes wide. He turned to me. "Sakura-chan, hurry up and help him."

I glared at him. "What? Why me?"

Sasuke glanced over at me. "Because you can."

"I don't think showing my… specialized area in front of a bunch of hostile people will be all that smart of me," I said with narrowed eyes.

Naruto looked ready to object but before anything more could happen Ibiki and a shit ton of other people poofed into the room.

"Be quiet you punks!" he roared while the smoke was still clearing. When it was gone, he stood at the front of the classroom, smirking. "I am examiner of the first test of the Chūnin exams, Morino Ibiki."

Everyone's eyes darted towards the front, except Naruto who nudged me impatiently and motioned towards Kabuto.

I glared at Naruto but shook my head and marched over to him.

Kabuto glanced up at me and smiled.

I whispered furiously to him, "Don't you dare try that fake smile shit on me."

His smile slipped, only to be placed with a mask of confusion. I placed my hand over his back and they flickered green before letting out a steady beat of healing chakra. Bruised ribs and disrupted tissue, nothing I couldn't heal quickly and easily.

"I can tell you're a spy," I snapped. His eyes flashed dangerously at me but he didn't say a thing.

When I was done, I pulled my hand back and stood up, paying attention to the front once again after walking over to Naruto. Naruto gave me a grin.

"I only did it 'cause you're going to be my adopted son," I muttered under my breath. He gave me a confused look but let it slide.

"…You are not allowed to fight each other during the exam unless given permission by the examiners. Even if permission is given, you are not allowed to kill each other. Pigs who go against me will fail immediately. Understood?"

No one said anything.

"We will now begin the first exam of the Chūnin exams. Turn in your applications and take one of these number tags, and sit where the number tells you to. Then we will pass out papers for the written exam," Ibiki said.

Naruto cringed. I patted him on the back.

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

We all sat separately from each other, except for Naruto and Hinata who sat next to each other (I gave a slight inward squeal at how Hinata blushed and wished Naruto good luck).

"The first exam has a few important rules," Ibiki began. "I will not accept any questions so listen carefully. First rule is you are all given ten points at the start. The written exam consists of ten questions and each is worth one point."

"This test is a deduction based test," he continued. "If you get one problem wrong you will be deducted one point. If you get three problems wrong, your points will be reduce to seven. Second rule, the pass-fail decision will be determined by your team's total points. Next rule, if an examiner determines that you cheated or are doing something similar during the test… each action will cause you to lose two points."

"In other words, there will be people who will be forced to leave this place without their tests being graded. Those who try to cheat without thinking carefully will only hurt themselves. You are all trying to become Chūnin. If you are a ninja, act like a first-rate one. Also, if anyone in a team gets a zero, everyone on that team will fail. The last problem will be given forty five minutes after the exam begins. You have one hour until the end of the exam, begin," He finished.

I looked down at the test and set to work.

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

I looked down proudly at my test, covered in chibi doodles of the Akatsuki. I wasn't kidding either.

I drew an annoyed Kakuzu in the top box—box one(on the left) who was looking down in box three—right below box one—with a glare. Hidan was in box three, glaring right back up at Kakuzu.

Box two had a grinning Kisame who was lounging on his Samehada. Box four—right below Kisame—was a drawing of Sasori. Somehow I thought it would be best not to draw Itachi while taking the _Konoha_ Exams…

Sasori was sipping on tea, looking all sophisticated and badass. Right below Sasori in box six was Deidara who was pouting at who knows what. Next to Deidara—on the left—and right below Hidan was… Tobi!

Tobi was being his adorable self and hugging a teddy bear.

Below Tobi was a shaded out Pein—so they only saw his figure—who was giving the peace-sign and grinning. Next to Pein was the drawing of an origami butterfly.

I was quite satisfied with my work.

Oh, and on the side margin I drew myself(as Sakura) having tea with Ino and Hinata with Samehada being used as our table. We were all chibified.

And I wrote off to the side; HI IBIKI!

I was indeed very satisfied with my work.

**You should feel ashamed of yourself. You're making a mockery of all tests in the world.**

It's not my fault it's so damn amusing. Do you think they'll let me keep the test afterwards? I'm quite proud of my Kakuzu chibi.

**If I could face-palm right now, I so would. But you're right, your Kakuzu chibi is very well done. I want to go find Kakuzu right now and give him a hug…**

Indeed!

"Alright! I will now give the tenth problem," Ibiki stated. "But before I do, a special rule must be given out. This is… a hopeless rule."

"First," he began, "you are all going to choose if you want to take this tenth problem or not. If you do not choose to take it, your points will be reduced to zero. In other words, you will fail. Your two other team mates will follow behind you."

Cue the dramatic gasps.

I felt like adding another chibi to the test paper.

"And here is the other rule," He murmured, "if you choose to take it and you get it wrong you will lost the privilege to take the Chūnin Exams forever."

Cue the dramatic outbursts of rage and annoyance.

"That is why I gave you the option of quitting. Those who are not confident enough to take it, can choose to take the exam next year, or the year after that."

Hands raised in the air. People left.

I twirled the pencil in my hand and debated on adding another chibi.

Naruto raised his hand. He then stood up, glaring right at Ibiki. "I'll take this problem. Even if I become a Genin forever, I'm going to become a Hokage no matter what anyway! I'm not scared!"

He then sat down with a huff.

I smiled at his enthusiasm.

"I will ask one more time. This choice will impact your life," Ibiki said. "If you want to quit now…"

"I won't go back on my word. That's my ninja way."

Cue dramatic pause.

Ibiki surveyed the room once before nodding his head. "Nice determination. Then for the first exam, everyone here… passes!"

"What about the tenth question?" Ten-Ten demanded from behind me.

Ibiki grinned. "There was no such thing to begin with. Or you can call the two-choice question the tenth question."

"So what were those previous nine problems? Are you saying it was all just a waste?" Temari demanded.

"No it's not. The nine problems accomplished their p purpose. The purpose to test each individual's information gathering skills," Ibiki said. "First, this test's purpose lies in the first rule… you pass-fail decision based on your team. By giving that idea, we have given you an unprecedented amount of pressure to try and not be a nuisance to your team."

"But these test problems cannot be solved by Genin. So most, of the people here must have come to the conclusion... 'I have to cheat to gain points'. In other words, this exam assumed that everyone was going to cheat. So we snuck in two Chūnin who knew the answers to be targets of cheating," Ibiki continued.

"But those who just cheated like a fool, failed of course. Why? Information can have a greater value than life at times, and in missions and battlefields information is contested with people's lives. The information that an enemy gets after being noticed by a third person will not necessarily be accurate. Remember this…"

**Why the hell do these people rant for so friggin' long?**

An excellent question.

**Do you suppose he'll be stopping any time soon?**

Nah. Do you think he'll get my message?

**The hello you wrote for him on the test?**

Yep.

**Probably… he'll also see all the Akatsuki chibis. **

How do you think he'll react to them?

**Who knows. The Akatsuki haven't surfaced yet so I doubt he'll pay much attention to them for now.**

Or ever. For all we know they could very well just burn the tests when we're done with them.

**Very possible. Or maybe they use them to make paper air planes.**

Recycling for fun, how nice.

**Mm-hmm. **

Do you think Kakashi will praise me when we're done?

**You pra—**

I was jutted out of my thoughts when the window to my far left crashed open. And in came in Anko with her giant ass banner.

"Everybody! There's no time to be happy. I am the second examiner, Mitarashi Anko. Let's go to the next exam! Follow me!" Anko shouted, her fist pumping in the air.

Ibiki peeked out from behind the banner, muttering something to Anko. Anko cringed slightly, blushing a little. She shook her head after looking around the room. "78 passed? Ibiki, you let 26 teams pass? The first exam must have been too soft."

"It looks like there are a lot of excellent students this time," Ibiki replied.

"Oh well. I'll just have to make more than half the teams fail in the next exam. I'm getting excited. I will explain in detail next time. We will go somewhere else, so ask your Jōnin teachers about the rally point and time. That is all, dismissed."

* * *

_This chapter was too short for my liking ergo I posted it on Friday so I could post again on Tuesday..._

_Reviews are love, inputs are amazing.  
_

_See you Tuesday.  
_


	9. The Forest of Unoriginal Naming (I)

_Hello everyone. At the bottom there is an author's note where I would like to explain something._

_**Disclaimer:** I've said it many times before, I own nothing and this is all a play land for me.  
_

* * *

We were all gathered outside the Forest of Death. Meaning all the examinees as well as Anko and a few other examiners. Naruto was surveying the area—at least that's what it appeared to be what he was doing. I remained back with Sasuke, keeping quiet while my eyes darted between examinees.

Did anyone see me medical jutsu when I healed Kabuto?

**I don't think so. Otherwise someone would have probably targeted us by now and be giving us some major glares. Or smirks. Or sneers. Or…**

I get it, I get it. Still… I don't like the idea of someone knowing that this group has a medic in them. We might be specifically targeted.

**Are you being paranoid?**

… Maybe.

** Well then you're absolutely right. It's as bad as you think and everyone is secretly pinning for you.**

I knew it!

… Wait.

_ Asshole._

I was interrupted by my thoughts when a kunai flew right by Naruto, cutting his cheek and landing in the ground next to me. My eyes snapped forward to see Anko right behind Naruto, cupping his uninjured cheek as she smiled in his ear. "…After spilling out that red blood that I love so much."

Her smile hardened as she whirled around, pulling out another kunai just in time to see Snake-Pedo In Disguise stick out his tongue, holding out a kunai to her. Naruto looked ready to have a heart attack.

S.P.I.D (Snake-Pedo In Disguise) smiled creepily at Anko. "Here's your knife."

Anko smiled right back. "Thank you. But don't stand behind me like that, unless you want to die young."

SPID retracted his tongue after Anko too back her kunai. "Well, I get itchy when I see blood. Also my precious hair was cut when you threw the first kunai, so naturally I got a little excited."

SPID then turned away, walking back to the crowd. Naruto looked around Anko, watching him leave.

I sighed when I saw the cut was still bleeding. Not even in the forest and already my services are required.

**Whatever, you like being of use.**

True…

Anko smirked, muttering under her breath before she returned to the front of the examinees. She then pulled out consent forms, telling everyone that they needed to sign it if they wanted to continue. She then went to explaining mode while all the papers were being passed out.

It was a survival test, all teams worked individually. Each team was given a single scroll. The scroll was either an Earth Scroll or a Heaven Scroll. If you were given an Earth Scroll, you had to attack and steal from another team with a Heaven Scroll. You were not allowed to open the scrolls. You could kill, anything went. When you had both scrolls, you and your team were supposed to head to the tower in the center of the forest. You had five days to complete this challenge before whoever else left was disqualified. You had to fend for ourselves (hence the survival part), but be careful of the poisonous bugs, plants, man-eating animals, etc, etc. You also were not allowed to give up in the middle of the exam unless you wanted to die.

Oh what fun.

She then left us all to sign the consent forms and whatnot.

I glanced down at the piece of paper in front of me. I looked around for a pen, noticing a small table a little ways from me with pens and pencils. Naruto and Sasuke were still staring at their paper. I went to the booth, and signed my name.

Afterwards I wandered around, eventually finding Ino.

"Hey Ino-chan, looking forward to the survival test?" I asked, a slight tease in my voice.

She grinned at me. "Nope. I'm going to desperately miss my shower for the next five days."

I shuddered slightly. "I just now thought of that. How the heck am I supposed to go the bathroom in there? Use a leaf?"

Ino shook her head. "Who knows."

"Well," I said. "I wish you luck, Ino-chan. Also, you're not allowed to die. If you do, I will personally find a way to resurrect you just so I could kick your ass myself for being so stupid."

Ino snorted, her grin widened. "You too, Sakura-chan."

With a wave of my hand I headed off to find Hinata before the exam started. Sadly though before I could find the adorable heiress, the protractor called for everyone to turn in their forms to trade for a scroll. I located Sasuke and Naruto before the three of us headed off to collect our scroll.

Each team went behind the curtains to turn in their forms and picked up a scroll. We retrieved our Heaven scroll before Naruto tucked it away in his pocket. Then each team headed off to find a different gate into the forest. We were stationed at gate twelve.

Finally the gates were opened and we rushed in.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

About an hour into the forest we heard the first scream

The three of us paused, our heads turned towards the sound. I almost smiled. I knew the first person to scream was an unimportant group that was caught in Hinata-chan's team's trap.

"Mmm, looks like it started," I said.

Naruto and Sasuke glanced at me. I smiled. "Naruto, mind if I take a look at your cheek now while we have the chance?"

"Ah, just a minute, I need to pee," Naruto said, giving me a sheepish grin before rushing off into the grass to relieve himself.

Sasuke and I watched him go, not making a single comment.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

When 'Naruto' returned he was grinning, his unblemished face lighting up. "That felt good!"

Sasuke and I stared at him a moment, neither of us smiling. I pulled out a kunai and threw it at 'Naruto'. In the same instance, Sasuke rushed forward, quickly kicking 'Naruto' in the stomach. He flew across the clearing and landed in a tree.

"Why did you do that?" 'Naruto' muttered, rubbing his cheek.

Sasuke rushed forward again, and swung a kick at 'Naruto'.

"You're not Naruto," I answered. "Naruto had a cut on his left cheek. You do not."

'Naruto' dodged Sasuke's kick, glaring at me and him. I glared right back.

"Not to mention your kunai holster is on your left leg, Naruto is right handed," I finished, another kunai already in my hand and being spun between my fingers.

'Naruto' sneered at me before he erupted into white smoke with a poof, replaced another examinee. "How unlucky. I guess I have no choice since you found me out. Which one of you has the scroll? If you give it up quietly, I'll spare your lives."

I snorted. "Like you could take us."

"Force it is then," He said, rushing forward.

Sasuke kicked himself into the air, his hands working quickly to form seals. The rain-nin made it half way before Sasuke finished his hand seals.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Fire!" Sasuke said before his mouth formed an o and short bullets of fire shot out, hitting the ground.

The Genin dodged the attacks, twisting and twirling before he launched himself into the air, meeting Sasuke head on. Sasuke pulled out a kunai, and the two clashed.

The imposter pushed back from Sasuke, momentarily turning his back to put distance between the two. Sasuke followed right behind him. I lurched into the air, grabbing hold of one of the large tree branches and kicking off of it. Sasuke and I followed the imposter before we noticed Naruto at the bottom of a large tree, tied up.

"Oi! Little help here!" Naruto shouted, struggling.

Sasuke glanced down at him, momentarily distracted.

"Go, I'll get him," I said. Sasuke nodded before kicking off another tree branch and chasing down our opponent. I dropped down from the tree branch, hitting the dirt floor and running over to Naruto.

I dropped to the ground, twirled my kunai once before cutting Naruto free.

"Eh, thanks Sakura-chan," Naruto said, grinning.

"No time," I said, already up and moving to chase after Sasuke and the other. Naruto nodded once and the two of us lurched into the trees. It wasn't long before we found them, they were locked in a bout of taijutsu. Naruto pulled out a kunai and tossed it at the intruder, Sasuke noticed it in time before he lurched away.

I kicked off from the tree branch after I added an extra amount of chakra in my feet to give me the extra push. I gripped my kunai tighter before I crashed into the intruder, my knee connected with his stomach and my kunai jabbed into his arm.

Blood sprayed out from the force of the stab, covering my hand. He retched from the force of my knee before his left leg swung up and disconnected us, he pushed off of me. I was flew backwards, my bloodied kunai in my hands.

He twisted his body in the air so he landed safely onto one of the tree branches. He then turned tail and fled into the forest.

I twisted my body, landing less than gracefully on my feet, and slid back from the force of the land. Sasuke landed beside me.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"If the three of us get separate, don't trust anyone even if he looks like one of us. We now know there's a possibility that an enemy might transform into one of us and approach," Sasuke said.

The three of us were sitting in a small grove. We sat in a tight circle, I had already healed Naruto's cheek and a bruise Sasuke had on his shoulder from the bout with the intruder.

"So what do we do?" Naruto asked.

"We choose a password, something only us three know. If a different password is given, assume he's an enemy no matter what he looks like," Sasuke said. "I'm only going to say this once, so listen carefully. First you will ask 'The ninja song Ninki?' The answer is the following: It is a good chance when a large number of enemies are making a scene. There are no hideouts even in a quiet place. It is important for a ninja to know the right time. The time when the enemy is tired, and has his guard down. That is it."

"Understood," I said.

Naruto's face was scrunched up in concentration. "Can you say it one more time?"

"I said that I'm only going to say it once," Sasuke answered.

Naruto's face fell and he sighed. Sasuke stood. "I'll hold onto the scroll for now."

"Hey wait a minute," Naruto said, standing up as well.

That was when a sharp hissing sound came from the darkness of the forest, before it came to an abrupt stop and hitting Naruto in the cheek, causing him to bleed again.

**Damn it, we just healed him.**

Shortly afterwards, strong wind erupted from the same direction, forcing all of us to brace ourselves.

When the wind stopped and the dust cleared, there stood SPID with his two other 'teammates'.

I blinked my eyes, they had watered slightly from the bits of dirt that had flown into them. I wiped them quickly, blinking again only to see SPID now stood alone.

A shiver of fear trekked down my spine, I glanced around. I was covered in dirt and bruises were already forming among me. The force of the wind had separated us and knocked us all back. I muttered under my breath, placing a hand over a particularly nasty bruise on my elbow.

I walked a bit before I found Sasuke, a few of my bruises now gone.

"Duck-Ass," I whispered.

He whirled around, his body tense as he pulled out a kunai. "Stop. Password. The ninja song Ninki."

I wanted to roll my eyes but stopped myself. "It is a good chance when a large number of enemies are making a scene. There are no hideouts even in a quiet place. It is important for a ninja to know the right time. The time when the enemy is tired, and has his guard down."

He relaxed his stance. "Okay."

"Hey, everyone, are you okay?" 'Naruto' sounded, rushing forward. He was covered in dirt and bruises as well.

"Hold up," I said. "Password."

"Okay, okay. It is a good chance when a large number of enemies are making a scene. There are no hideouts even in a quiet place. It is important for a ninja to know the right time. The time when the enemy is tired, and has his guard down," 'Naruto' said.

I sighed, pulling out a kunai and threw it at him. 'Naruto's' eyes widened and he lurched away.

"What are you doing?" 'Naruto' shouted, his eyes still wide.

Sasuke smirked slightly, sparing me a glance and nodding his head once. "Kakashi-sensei was right when he said you were observant."

I shrugged, turning back to the fake Naruto. "Naruto would never remember such a long password, not to mention he wouldn't have been able to dodge my kunai."

"Show yourself, faker," Sasuke said, his eyes hard as he pulled out a kunai.

'Naruto' gave a very nasty smile. "I see."

There was a loud puff as white smoke enveloped the imposter, only to clear away revealing… SPID! Gasp.

"But if you knew he was going to forget, why didn't you use a shorter password?" SPID asked, still smiling.

Fear crawled down my spine, giving my skin goose bumps. My legs felt like water and my gut clenched. I swallowed hard, my stance shifting into a more offensive one.

"I knew that you were eavesdropping on our conversation inside the ground. That's why I made a long password," Sasuke explained, smirking.

"I see. So you don't let your guard down," SPID said. "Looks like I can have more fun than what I expected." SPID then pulled out an Earth Scroll from his back pocket. "You want our Earth Scroll, don't you? Since you three have a Heaven Scroll."

He moved the scroll to his face, his long tongue wrapped around it before he swallowed it whole.

I shuddered, my grip tightening on my kunai.

"Now then… let's begin our own fight for our scrolls where our lives our on the line," SPID hissed, his voice tinged with amusement. His left hand moved up to his left eye. All of a sudden a rush of killer intent flowed straight at us.

The killer intent overwhelmed my senses, fear overloaded everything I saw. Sickening, mind numbing fear. Coldness and nauseating sensations rocketed through me, leaving me paralyzed. Like a helpless bird caught in the gaze of a hungry snake. And all at once, it stopped.

I stood shaking, my breathing already coming in short pants. My knees wobbled. I fell to the floor, shaking. Sasuke collapsed beside me, his own body shaking from fear.

_Was that really just killer intent? I never knew it could be so nasty,_ I thought, glancing over at Sasuke.

"S-Sakura," Sasuke whispered, turning slightly towards me.

"A-Aa," I whispered, my voice coming out like a broken whine. "A-Are yo-you h-hurt?"

He didn't answer, his gaze turning back to SPID. My gaze dropped down to my kunai that rested a little ways from me. I wanted to grab it, but I was shaking too bad. This fear was overwhelming everything in my body. I was cold in ways I never knew I could be cold in.

"You can't move already?" SPID asked, his voice slippery smooth.

Through the corner of my eye I could see Sasuke slowly withdraw a kunai, but it shook violently in his hand.

Move. Move. Move. Come on you tsupid body, you know you won't die.

_How do you know that for sure?_

Can't die, not yet, not yet…

_You don't know that for sure. _This_ is reality now, anything can happen to you now…_

Wrongwrongwrongwrong…

**Snap out of it!**

I stopped shaking.

Sasuke was slowly standing up, shaking still.

"What are you going to do with that?" SPID asked, smiling.

**Get your damn head straight. Yes this is your reality, yes you're changing it, yes **_**you can die again.**_** But are you really going to allow your teammate to suffer like this when you can do something about it? Are you really such a friggin' pansy?**

He turns out okay in the—

_**Bullshit**_**. Don't focus on then, focus on **_**now.**__**Now**_** he needs you, **_**now**_** you two are in danger, **_**now you need to act.**_

But I… I'm afraid.

**When you're afraid you have the potential to be brave.**

"Relax, I will end it in a flash," SPID said as he started walking towards us. He pulled out two kunai. "You won't have to suffer. I wanted to have a little more fun but now I'm a little disappointed."

He flicked the kunai at us.

I acted. I lurched forward, grabbing my kunai in the process and deflecting SPID's own weapons. In the same motion I pulled out a smoke bomb from my packet, and threw it at the ground. Sasuke stared at me with wide eyes. I grabbed his arm, my hand still shaking, and I tugged him along.

Together we lurched off the ground and into the tree tops. The smoke was beginning to clear but we were already long out of view.

"Faster," I whispered, my voice still cracking.

We added more chakra into our feet, jumping from branch to branch. After a while, I held out my hand. We stopped. I glanced around the area. "Let's stop here."

Sasuke nodded his head. He had stopped shaking by now. We pressed against a tree, still resting on the branch. I grabbed his hand. "Sasuke, are you okay?"

His eyes flickered from our hands to my face. He swallowed once before clearing his throat. "Y-Yeah. I am."

I squeezed his hand once before dropping it. "Where are you hurt, now?"

He gave me a weary smile. "Just bruises."

"Bruises can cause stiffness; stiffness can cause problems in combat. Where are you hurt?"

He sighed before turning around, allowing me to see his back. I placed my hands on his shoulders.

At first my chakra didn't come to me. I was too hyped up on adrenaline and fear, my nerves were jittery and my senses in overdrive. But after a while of deep breaths, a thin line of concentration presented itself. Warm chakra flowed to my hands, flickering a couple times before become a steady rhythm.

When I was finished, he let out a tense breath, rolling his shoulders. He turned back to me. His voice was quiet, "Thank you."

I nodded my head, my mouth dry. "We need to find Naruto."

"No, we need to run," Sasuke said, his voice still quiet.

"And leave Naruto?" I asked, my voice dropping down to a tight whisper.

"_He's_ going to find us soon," Sasuke said, his body shaking once more ever so slightly.

I grabbed his hand and squeezed. "Breathe, Duck-Ass. Calm down. It _will_ be okay."

"How can you know for sure?" Sasuke snapped.

"Because I do," I answered, my eyes locking with him. I tried my best to show certainty in my eyes, I tried my best to give him something stable and solid for him to hold, like Inner had for me. I tried my best, and judging from how he slowly stopped shaking, I'd like to imagine I had succeeded.

"Okay," He whispered. "Okay we find Naruto and we escape. But where would he be?"

Before I could answer that, a shadow loomed over us. My body reacted before my mind did. I slammed into Sasuke, tackling him off the tree branch. Just in time to see through the corner of my eye the giant brown snake bite down on the branch.

Sadly though because my body reacted first I obviously didn't think tackling Sasuke through. We both plummeted toward the ground.

This time it was Sasuke who saved me. He twisted in the air, grabbing my waist and jerking out his hand to grab hold of the tree. He must have pushed chakra in his hand because soon we slowed to a stop, him hanging onto me and the tree.

"Thanks," I muttered, swinging my legs to have my feet grab hold of the tree. I pushed chakra into my feet. Sasuke let go of me and we stood vertically on the tree, staring up at the snake that hissed at us.

The snake lurched forward. Sasuke moved his hands in seals. "Fires Style: Phoenix Fire!"

Barrages of fire darts launched from Sasuke's mouth and slammed into the snake. The snake reared its head, hissing menacingly until a couple of the fire balls crashed against its throat. It spluttered and let out a gargled hiss, the fire having already eaten away its skin before dying out.

It fell limp, dangling from the tree branch as blood oozed out of it.

The skin around its back slowly began to crack, as if something was puncturing through it from the inside.

"You can't let your guard down for even a second."

SPID's voice echoed eerily around us, as he oh so slowly emerged from the snake. Beside me, Sasuke began to shake again, just a little though. My right hand shook as well, I grasped it with my left, as I stared in horror at SPID.

"Prey need to strain their minds all the time, and run around in the presences of a predator," SPID hissed, smiling.

SPID then lurched out of the snake, where his legs used to be now a long snake body took their place. I shuddered as he neared us, my eyes widening—

Kunai thunked against the tree bark as they landed with a hard thud against it right before SPID. SPID stopped, inches before them, his eyes narrowing in irritation as he looked up from the source of their direction.

"Sorry Sasuke, Sakura-chan, I forgot the password," Naruto said, smirking with his arms folded across his chest as he stood above SPID.

"Naruto!" Sasuke called out. "You must have come here to show off by helping us, but don't get involved. Run! He's way above our level."

"Looks like you defeated that big snake, Naruto-kun," SPID said, his eyes still narrowed.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey," Naruto shouted. "Looks like you were picking the weak, eh? Now that I, the great Uzamaki Naruto am here, I'm going to beat you into a pulp."

Sasuke's eyes widened at Naruto's brash nature and threat to SPID. I almost let out a chuckle. That was our Naruto.

Sasuke glanced between SPID and Naruto, finally his stance relaxed and he deactivated his Sharingan. He reached into his back pocket, pulling out our Heaven Scroll. "Wait. I'll give you our scroll. Please, take this and leave us in peace."

"Oi, Sasuke! What are you doing? What are you trying to do by giving the enemy our scroll?" Naruto demanded.

"Shut up!" Sasuke snapped.

Naruto's eyes widened in disbelief.

SPID smirked. "I see, you're smart. The only hope the prey has against the predator is to hand over something else to eat to save itself."

Sasuke tossed the Heaven Scroll towards SPID.

Faster than I thought possible, Naruto reacted. He lurched from his branch and grabbed the scroll before it reached SPID. He reflected off another branch to land next to Sasuke and me.

"Idiot! What do you think you're doing? Do you want to—" Sasuke was cut off from his rant by Naruto straightening up and punching him in the face.

Sasuke staggered back, catching himself before he fell. "Why you… Why did you do that?"

Naruto stood, glaring and breathing heavily. "I… forgot the password, so I can't make sure of this, but you're a fake Sasuke, aren't you?"

"You idiot, I'm the real one!" Sasuke snapped, glaring right back at him.

"Liar," Naruto growled. "The idiot and coward I see in front of me right now can't be the Sasuke I know. I don't know how strong he is, but there is no guarantee that he'll let us go even if we hand over our scroll! You're the one who is scared, the one who doesn't understand the situation."

A sly chuckle passed SPID's lips as he stood up, his snake half replaced with legs once again. "Naruto-kun… you're correct. I just have to kill all of you to take the scroll."

He rolled up the sleeve on his left arm, revealing his black summoning tattoo. My eyes widened as I recognized where this was heading. I couldn't stop myself from reacting. "S-Stop him before he…!"

Naruto was already in action he was rushing toward shim, kunai in hand. "Don't mess with me, you freak!"

SPID bit his right hand finger, drawing blood. He drew his bloody finger along the tattoo. "Summing jutsu!"

Strong wind erupted around SPID, blowing Naruto back. Naruto fell backwards, his body flailing as he tried to right himself. I lurched off of my branch, grabbing Naruto from behind and twisting us in a new direction.

When I had moved, the summoning was complete. SPID now stood atop an impossibly large snake, smirking.

Naruto and I crashed into another tree, with me being used as a pillow. I gasped at the sharp pain racing up my back and winced. Naruto rolled off of me, his eyes wide. "Sakura-chan?"

I shook my head. "I'll be fine."

SPID chuckled. "How cute… such cute prey."

The snake's tail raised up at us. My eyes widened. "Naruto! Move!"

Naruto lurched away from the branch. I shot up, but pain raced down my body from my spine.

Not good.

The tail was almost upon me. I tucked in my knees and rolled off from the branch, plummeting down to the forest floor.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto called out, his eyes wide. He bounced off from another tree, jumping down. His arms wrapped around me as we fell. He used the force of his last push off to carry us over to another tree. Like with Sasuke, he fused chakra into his hands to grab the tree.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, his eyes wide with worry.

"Put me down so I can heal," I said through clenched teeth, pain raced up and down my back with each jerk of movement. Naruto nodded, kicking off from the tree and finding another branch. He set me down before lurching away.

The snake's tail swung towards Naruto, Naruto twisted out of the way to land on another branch. The tail swung up from under the branch, knocking Naruto away. He crashed against the tree, coughing up blood from the impact. His eyes closed and he tucked forward.

I closed my, already knowing where this was going. I lifted my arm weakly, pushing myself into sitting position.

Sharp pain crisscrossed along my spine and it took all of my will power not to cry out and draw attention to myself.

Not good at all.

I heard Naruto's curse as he began pounding the snake's head with his fists, the Kyūbi's power activating.

**Forget about them at the moment. You aren't going to be of any use like this. Fix yourself then fix them.**

Right, right…

I licked my dry lips, my brow furrowed in concentration as I tried to pin point the exact spot of the pain. It didn't take long. Slowly, painfully, I twisted my right hand behind my back. My palm found the painful spot, a little below my shoulder blades along my spine.

I whimpered as I prodded against it. Burning pain, sharp. Still have access to movement though. Discs, my discs were broken, more specifically the annulus. The tissue between each vertebrae. Going through sequestration stage, most likely. Causing the severe pain… okay… okay no _bones_ broken. I can heal this.

I let out a shaky sigh of relief. No bones broken.

But it's along the spine and if it's already reaching the sequestration stage, the nucleus inside of the annulus is leaking… if I don't fix it now I'll be SOL…

How to retract the jelly-like substance? How do I do that again? Can't think straight…

**Calm down. Don't over think this through. You know how. **

Calm… calm… yes. Push chakra into the spine and force it act as a sort of magnet for the nucleus. When the nucleus is pulled back towards the chakra, begin reforming the annulus and reinstating it between the discs. Okay. Okay...

Warm chakra pushed through my hand as it phased through my skin and wrapped around the damaged discs. My chakra pulsed inside of my body, letting out a warm buzz as it wrapped around my spine. I could feel the sickening sensation as the slimy nucleus retracted from my bones and my muscles, restoring back between the discs.

I imagined repairing my annulus, the tissue rewrapping around the oozing substance and strengthening it from my chakra. Little by little, bit by bit. Almost finished. My pain slowly subsided. Nearly finished. Just a few more….

Done.

Just in time. I looked up sharply to see Naruto dangling unconscious from SPID's tongue. SPID tossed Naruto aside, he began to fall.

I pushed chakra into my feet, lurching off from the branch. My arms wrapped around Naruto and we were about to collided against a tree. My legs kicked out against the tree, pushing off. Naruto still in my arms I hopped from branch to branch, finally finding one and resting Naruto on it.

"Duck-Ass!" I shouted. "Don't just stand there you coward!"

I glared at the frightened boy before my gaze returned to Naruto. I kneeled beside him, placing my hands on his forehead.

Shit. Chakra induced comatose. I can't wake him up. He has to wake up on his own… I glanced up to see Sasuke, no longer shaking. His Sharingan activated as he glared at SPID.

The snake glowed brightly before it erupted into smoke, disappearing.

I dragged my gaze away from them, focusing back on Naruto. I felt around his rib cage. Bruised ribs. I grabbed his left arm, running my hand across it. Bruises and tension between joints. I checked his other one. Same with his left arm.

I examined his legs. Bruises, and scratches. My hand ran back up to his forehead. Bruises and scratches, slight burn marks on his hands and face from the stomach acid of the snake.

I sent out pulses of chakra, examining his spine. Ruptured annulus, like mine but not as bad. I could fix that.

I heard the deafening sound of Sasuke's fire style jutsu.

I placed my hand over Naruto's left arm and began to send my chakra into it. I didn't have time to stand around and watch their battle. Left arm done, right arm next…

I set into an almost robotic pattern. Heal this, heal that. Repair, reimburse. Undo the damage, restore…

I felt a warm flash of fire from behind me. I had just finished repairing all the physical damage to Naruto that I could. I glanced up from Naruto's body to see Sasuke stand, panting before SPID. SPID was still tied to the tree. I stood up from my tree, looking down as SPID broke free from the wires. He stood smiling at Sasuke, speaking.

I was too far away to hear, but I knew what he was talking about. My body tensed, my muscles coiled before I launched myself from the tree. I knew I wasn't going to make it in time to stop the curse. I knew that. I wasn't tsupid. But that sure as hell didn't mean I couldn't try.

I pulled out a kunai just as SPID stretched out his neck and launched his head towards Sasuke. I threw the kunai, still rushing towards them.

SPID bit down on Sasuke's neck. My kunai whirled straight towards him. SPID retracted his fangs from Sasuke, pulling back and returning to his body, just before my kunai whirled by them.

I pushed myself off from the next branch and landed next to Sasuke. Sasuke cried out in pain and grabbed his neck.

My arms wrapped around him as he fell to his knees. I glared at SPID. "What did you do to Duck-Ass?"

"A farewell present," SPID replied, slowly fading into the tree branch below him. "Sasuke-kun will come and seek me. He will seek me for power."

Sasuke cried out again and I pulled him closer, as if trying to comfort him in some fashion. Like a mother trying to console her crying child.

SPID was now gone and I turned my attention to Sasuke. "Shh… shhh… it's okay."

He groaned from the pain, withering in my arms. I looked around worriedly. I found his hand before I grabbed it and squeezed. "Shh, shh…"

Finally his body sagged, and he fell unconscious.

I looked back up in the direction I had left Naruto in.

We needed to go, we weren't safe here.

* * *

_Sakura's reasoning for allowing this to happen will be elaborated later and there was nothing short of telling the Third Hokage what was going on but that would have landed her in Ibiki's T&I Room and...__  
_

_**Question: Won't Ibiki recognize the Akatsuki figures?  
**_

_This is a very fair and legit question, I am very glad you asked this. In Part I, it is only confirmed that Kisame and Itachi were members of the Akatsuki-Jiraiya himself has claimed that he did not know everything there was about Akatsuki. Kisame is a very powerful missing-nin with the infamous Samehada. I would be very surprised if he wasn't listed high in the Bingo Book. Following that line of reasoning, Kakuzu might not be in the Akatsuki yet, same for Deidara. Kakuzu and Deidara would most likely just be ranked as high missing-nin shinobi. _

_No one knew what Sasori looked like outside of his puppet until Shippuden (unless you count his grandmother but she had assumed that he would have aged-which he did not). I don't think Jiraiya or anyone else would be able to recognize the silhouette of Pein without seeing him first. And I doubt Tobi would be registered at all in the Bingo Book so in truth at first glance it only looks like she drew embarressingly cute chibis of dangerous shinobi randomly picked out from the Bingo Book. Even as a Genin I doubt they would have prevented access from a Bingo Book so why shouldn't she be able to draw them?  
_

_But your question was fair and when I go back to read it, I can see how your reasoning would work. Therefore I will go back to the chapter and edit that one part stating, "But I made sure not to draw their cloaks... wouldn't want a certain pervert finding out too much, too soon."  
_

_Once again, I thank you for pointing this out to me._ _And I thank you very much for your reviews. ^-^__  
_

_Moving on... Reviews are love. See you next Tuesday (or Friday).  
_


	10. The Forest of Unoriginal Naming (II)

_I wonder oh wonder what could possibly go wrong in this chapter..._

_**Disclaimer: **Naruto is Kishimoto's toy. I'm just playing with it.  
_

_**Warning: **Language.  
_

* * *

I found a hiding spot underneath an uprooted tree. I had tucked Sasuke and Naruto in the far back.

I had tried to heal Sasuke, but whenever my chakra was pushed inside of him the curse mark repelled me. I was forced to settle for first aid; thankfully I had anticipated the curse mark acting negatively towards my healing so I had packed for it. Sasuke's bruises and cuts were now wrapped in gauze, coated with a special herb mixture I had created.

While the sun was still out—just barely—I had found a river and replenished our water supply. Along the way back I got extremely lucky and found edible herbs to restore strength. I picked a few before I headed back.

The herbs rested beside Naruto on top of my pack.

Daybreak was approaching now. I knew what happened after daybreak.

I was scared.

But, yet, at the same time I felt oddly calm about it. I knew it was coming, and I could prepare for it. I would live through this and I would protect my teammates. I could and I would do this.

I would.

The sun's rays slowly peeked through the cracks between the roots of the tree. I cracked my eyes open, surveying the area.

A squirrel broke out into a run across the clearing, heading straight towards us. I pulled out a kunai, twirling it once before I threw it at the squirrel. It squeaked in fear before turning tail and fleeing in the other direction.

I turned back towards Sasuke and Naruto. Soon, they were going to be here soon.

I fought off another wave of fatigue, opting to munch on a few herbs instead. My stomach clenched as the substance reached my acids. It wanted more, something it could actually devour.

I shuddered as a sudden coldness wrapped around me. Fatigue was already pressing in on me. I placed my right hand over my forehead and sent a wave of chakra into my body. The fatigue eased slightly.

I tucked my knees into my chest and waited.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"Keeping vigilant all night by yourself, you must be tired," Drawled the first voice. I looked up sharply from my spot. "I don't suppose you could wake Sasuke-kun? We'd like to fight him."

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to turn tail and leave?" I asked, slowly standing up. "Duck-Ass is fast asleep after that snake-fucker bit him and left behind a little 'present.'" I quoted my fingers around present, trying my best to keep the sarcasm from dripping out too much.

"Oh?" Zaku said, stepping forward. "Allow me to kill her and Sasuke, it's clear she knows too much."

I snorted. _You have no friggin' clue._

Dosu stepped forward. "No. We attack together."

And that's when they all launched into the air. I pulled out another kunai, rushing out from the hiding spot to meet them head on. But before either of us connected, Lee lurched out from virtually nowhere.

"Leaf Hurricane!" He called out, twisting and hitting them so they were forced to back off and lurch away. I halted, stumbling a bit, before stopping just before Lee.

"Three against one hardly seems fair," Lee said, assuming a fighting stance.

"Who are you?" Dosu asked.

"The Konoha's beautiful blue beast… Rock Lee!" Lee exclaimed.

"Wh-What are you doing here?" I asked, slightly dazed. I didn't think Lee would come. I was in a different area than episode 31. I had hoped, hence why I threw the kunai to cause the squirrel to run earlier and catch his attention but… I wasn't too sure.

"When you are in danger, I will appear at any time," Lee said.

"Ah… thank you, Lee," I murmured.

Lee twitched slightly, almost a cringe but I could tell he was very pleased with my appreciation.

Dosu's one visible eye narrowed in annoyance. He pulled out his Earth Scroll, tossing it over his shoulder to Zaku. Zaku caught it. Dosu lurched forward, pulling out his right arm and preparing for an attack.

I twirled my kunai before throwing it at him. He dodged by jumping in the air, preparing to attack. In the same movement, Lee struck his fist in the ground, pulling out a major ass big root and using it as a shield against Dosu's attack.

"There's a trick to your attack isn't it?" Lee asked as the root was blasted to bits. "I saw it when you attacked that one examinee with the glasses."

Dosu's eye narrowed into a single furious slit. He lurched forward, but before he could do a thing, Lee was gone. Too fast for me to keep up with. Lee reappeared beneath Dosu. He kicked him in the jaw, sending him flying. Lee lurched right up into the air behind him. Lee grabbed hold of him and twisted him into the air, causing the two of them to fall head first towards the ground.

"Secondary Lotus!" Lee shouted.

In the same instance, Zaku made rapid hand signs, his hands slamming into the ground. Right before Lee and Dosu hit the ground, Lee released him, just barely avoiding Zaku's attack. Lee slid back. Dosu lurched up from the ground and lunged, ready to attack.

I knew Lee was still weak from his forbidden move, I knew he needed my help. So I thought it was only natural I acted. He came here to protect me, now it was only fair I protect him. I threw my kunai at Dosu, momentarily distracting him, as I ran towards Lee.

Before Dosu could touch Lee, I kicked Lee in the side, away from Dosu. In the same move I twisted my other leg to connect with Dosu's legs. I hit him behind his knee. His knee buckled beneath him and I brought my left fist up to his jaw, sending chakra to my hand to strengthen my blow.

Dosu was sent flying into the air. I rushed over to Lee, grabbing his shoulders. He was breathing heavily. I placed a hand on his forehead. Overexertion on his muscles. Physical problem. I could handle that. But then…

"Lee? Are you alright?" I asked. "Can you move?"

Lee shakily stood up before he fell back to the ground, clutching is left ear.

I was too late. Blood slowly dripped down past his hand. I gritted my teeth in frustration.

"I-I am f-fine Sakura-san," Lee said shakily.

"No, you're not," I whispered. "Dosu controls sound waves, he shattered your ear drum and confused your… Lee, you're balance is off, you cannot fight now, not until I can give you medical attention."

I glanced behind me to see Dosu had just landed.

"I can fight, Sakura-san!" Lee exclaimed, forcing himself to sit up.

"Lee…" I sighed. "I'm doing this for your own good."

I hit him upside the head.

He slumped to the ground, unconscious.

I stood up, glaring at the sound nin. I pulled out a kunai and twirled it in my fingers. I pulled out three shuriken before launching the shuriken at them. Zaku intercepted them, sending out focused air pressure to throw them off course. But while I had thrown them, I had also started running.

I ducked below the pressurized air, only to come back up right in front of him. His eyes momentarily widened before I forced my knee into his gut and my fist connected with his jaw. He whirled backwards. I threw a shuriken at him.

Dosu intercepted the shuriken, deflecting it with ease. He lurched towards me and I jumped back, dropping to my knees then rolling away from his attack. Beside me the ground exploded. I pulled out a paper bomb, tying it to my kunai.

Kin sprinted towards me, pulling out multiple senbon and throwing them at me. I kicked off from the ground and threw my kunai at Zaku. He raised his hands and forced the air pressure to lurch it right back at me.

I smirked, pulling out a shuriken and hitting my kunai on the tip. It zigzagged a bit before being thrown out of the path for the pressurized air. It fell towards the ground at Kin. Her eyes widened when she saw the explosive tag.

"Always wanted to say this," I muttered before raising my voice, "_Art is a bang, un!_"

The explosive tag did what it was always meant to do. It exploded.

The force was enough to send Kin flying, as she hit another tree and immediately coughed up blood. She slumped to the ground, unconscious.

I felt a small twinge of satisfaction.

It didn't last long. Because of my ego and my satisfaction, I momentarily lost track of my surroundings. Next thing I knew Dosu was right behind me and his fist connected against my cheek, in the same motion he sent out another sound wave.

Pain erupted into my ear drums and pounded into my head. My vision blurred as I was rocketed into the ground. The air left me as Dosu came crashing down right behind, his foot connected into my stomach and I gagged.

My vision blurred and my head spun in circles. Shit, shit, shit.

I swung my left hand blindly, pushing in some quickly depleting chakra. It was enough to cause Dosu to jumped off of me and away, back towards Zaku and Kin.

I coughed violently as I struggled to sit up. I blinked my eyes rapidly, all sounds around me seemed muffled. I raised my hand to my right ear and pulled it away. Blood dripped down from my fingers.

I tried again to sit up, only to fall back down. My arms shook, dizzy, dizzy. The world was spinning. Concentrate, concentrate…

My breath came out in short shallow gasps. Help… please, Inner?

**Calm… breathe… calm…**

Enough. Something stable to grasp on. My hand raised back to my forehead and I pushed chakra in my hand. It pulsated through my hand and into my forehead before covering my entire body. My vision cleared. Everything I heard was still muffled, but that was okay.

Zaku was walking towards Sasuke and Naruto, Dosu had his back turned to me. I reached into my bag and pulled out an explosive tag. I tied it around one of my last remaining kunai. I threw it at Dosu. Dosu turned his head, and Zaku stopped, turning.

"_Katsu_," I muttered, smiling insanely.

The tag exploded. Zaku and Dosu were thrown away from each other. I shakily stood up, pulling out my final kunai and twirled it. My legs wobbled as I hobbled over towards my teammates and Lee. When I reached them, I shakily raised my hand and assumed a fighting stance. My chakra was nearly gone. I had maybe one more good heal before I would need to rest.

I was in some deep shit now.

_Well_, I thought dryly_, I died once. It's not so bad._

I cringed as a wave of fatigue washed over me. I fell to my knees. Shit.

Dosu and Zaku were now walking towards me, seeing me in my weakened state. _Like a cat stalking a wounded mouse, _I thought giddily_. Damn, I would much rather be the cat in this situation._

Just before they reached me, Ino, Shikamaru and Chōji appeared before me. Their backs turned to me as they stared down at Dosu and Zaku. Kin groaned from her tree nearby, finally coming back to the world of consciousness.

"Ino," I muttered.

She turned her head back to me, smiling and saying something. It was muffled, I couldn't hear. I shook my head at her, weakly raising my hand and pointing to my ear. Her expression softened then hardened and she turned her back to me.

Help was here. It would be okay.

Dosu said something and Chōji turned towards Ino and Shikamaru, saying something frantically to them. Shikamaru held tight to Chōji's muffler.

That was when Zaku said something and Chōji stiffened. I felt a ghost of a smile pass over my lips. If I remember correctly, Zaku called Chōji a fatty.

Chōji screeched and raged at him, all fired up. A dry chuckle passed my lips.

Chōji turned into his human boulder and launched himself at Zaku. Zaku used his air pressure to hold him off before Chōji was launched into the air, flying straight at him. Dosu ran straight towards him but Shikamaru stopped him with his shadow possession jutsu.

Ino possessed Kin's body and Shikamaru caught Ino's—now empty body—just in time, Dosu mimicking the action. When Ino tried to take her hostage, they attacked her. Shikamaru's shadow possession faded. They then prepared to kill the possessed Kin… until Neji and Ten-Ten arrived.

Neji activated his Byakugan and everyone stared at him in shock before he deactivated it. He glanced over at Sasuke.

I followed his gaze, Sasuke was wrapped in the dark chakra of the curse mark. Very slowly he stood up, his body glowing from the curse mark as the chakra swirled around him. He looked over at me, saw my beaten down form and my bleeding ears.

He was speaking to me, I could see his lips move. But I gave him a tired smile and motioned to my ears. His eyes narrowed into dangerous slits.

I could remember what he had said in episode 33.

"Sakura, tell me, who hurt you?"

He glanced around the clearing, his lips moving. I knew he had asked the question again, only this time he had asked everyone there.

Zaku smirked. His lips moved. Sasuke's eyes hardened from whatever he said, his body tensed and a glare formed over his face. Shikamaru and Chōji retreated. Ino went back to her own body. They hid in the bushes, a little ways from me.

Sasuke's curse mark etched itself across his entire skin. Dosu appeared alarmed, Zaku used his Maximum Air Cutter at us, but before it could touch us, I felt the feather light touch of Sasuke's arm around my waist before I was jerked up from the ground.

Everything blurred for me in a flash, only for me to reappear with Naruto by my side as I half sat-half laid on the ground behind Zaku. Zaku smirked, thinking he had done us in but then Sasuke spoke from behind him and sent Zaku flying back.

Zaku twisted in the air to land a little ways from us, smirking still. Sasuke preformed his phoenix fire jutsu, sending in a barrage of fire balls. Zaku blew out the fire with his air, only to reveal that shuriken were wrapped in the fire. He was hit with a barrage of shuriken.

Sasuke appeared from behind Zaku, grabbing both of his arms and placing a foot on his back. Sasuke smirked. Sasuke's leg pushed down on Zaku's back while his arms pulled back. Dosu and everyone else watched in horror as Zaku withered under Sasuke until finally his arms relaxed. And judging from everyone else's face, a sickening crack must have been heard.

Sasuke dropped him, smirking nastily. Turning to face Dosu, he said something. I knew what was going to happen if I didn't act.

Was this how Sakura felt?

No. No, Sakura loved Sasuke. She didn't want to see him like this.

I just don't want to see _anyone_ like this. That's all…

That's all.

I pushed myself from the ground, my body giving me a thousand reasons why not to. My legs wobbled and my arms shook but I pushed myself forward, rushing past the lying Zaku. My arms wrapped around Sasuke.

He stopped.

"Stop," I murmured against his back. I was shaking from fatigue. I wanted to fall to the ground, close my eyes and sleep. But I knew I shouldn't. Not yet.

Sasuke stiffened at the contact, his head turning slightly to face me. His Sharingan eye whirled as it met mine.

"Stop, Sasuke," I murmured again. "I told you, everything was going to be okay. It is now, just calm down."

He continued to stare at me, his pinwheel whirling before slowly, painfully slowly, the curse marks began to retract themselves. His tense body relaxed and he fell to the ground, his knees buckling.

Naturally, I barely had enough strength to hold myself up, so there was no way I could hold both of us up so I fell too. Sasuke was breathing heavily.

Dosu must have spoken. Sasuke's head snapped up. Dosu held out his Earth Scroll, speaking. He set it down and walked away, grabbing Zaku and Kin. He walked away.

Ino's group presented themselves once again, after the danger had left. I was still leaning heavily on Sasuke's back. He shifted underneath me, turning away.

Shit, I thought. I tumbled to the floor, breathing heavily. More waves of fatigue washed over me. Sasuke turned to look at me, his eyes widened in alarm. His lips moved.

I shook my head. I could infer what he was asking. "Soldier pill for chakra depletion… my pack under the tree."

Sasuke nodded his head, raising his head he shouted out something. In the same instance I felt another presence by my side. Naruto sat beside me, his eyes wide with worry, his mouth was moving at a rapid pace.

I gave a weary grin and glanced over at Sasuke.

Sasuke took the hint and he explained to Naruto how I couldn't hear him, motioning to my ears. Naruto's eyes widened before they hardened, his lips pressing into a thin line. Before he could do—or say—anything, Ino appeared, holding out the pill. She placed it above my mouth and I opened my mouth, she dropped it in and I chewed.

All at once I could feel the rush of chakra flow through me. I raised my hand over to my right ear. I felt a warm rush of chakra flow through my hand and into my ear. Shortly after, my drum was fully repaired. I moved to my left ear, repairing it as well.

"Yay, now I can hear again," I commented dryly.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto questioned, his eyes still on me.

"Mmm?"

"What happened while we were sleeping?"

"Mmm…" I sat up slowly, feeling my strength momentarily return from the pill. I looked up at Ino. "Thank you Ino-chan. Do you think someone could give me a hand and help me up?"

Ino grinned, holding out a hand. I took it, she helped me back up on my feet. I glanced around the clearing and saw Tenten and Lee. I hobbled over to them, Naruto, Sasuke and Ino right behind me.

"Lee," I said. "Thank you."

Lee looked at me for a moment, his eyes widening. I dropped down beside where he sat. "Now hold still."

I placed my hand over his bloodied ear. I could see the others watching me as I pushed chakra through my hand to repair his own broken ear drum. Lee's eyes widened even more so when I was finished.

"Better?" I asked with a weary smile.

"S-Sakura-san!" Lee exclaimed, his eyes watering. "I have failed you yet you have shown me such kindness in healing me. I—I promise to train harder for you. Next time we meet, I will be a stronger man."

"You do that," I said with a quirked eyebrow. "But it was only natural I healed you, you did offer your assistance and all."

Naruto was glaring daggers at Lee beside me. I patted Naruto on the cheek. I then turned to Sasuke—who was now sitting on my other side—and patted him on the head.

Naruto stopped glaring at my pat, but Sasuke merely spared me a glance, a small smile tugging at his lips.

I stared at the possible smile in disbelief. Was the _great_ Sasuke actually going to smile?

** Note the sarcasm in great.**

In the end, Sasuke did not smile.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

The three of us sat around our small fire, eating the fish Naruto and Sasuke had caught. After we had left the others, we decided to find something eat and a place to camp before we decided our next move.

Naruto and Sasuke were the only ones fit to hunt—seeing how I had healed away all _their_ problems, while I was stuck nursing my own.

However, some good did come of this. Because of my oh so amazing medical skills, we didn't need to waste two whole days waiting to recuperate, like they did in the anime. Now we were roughly two days into the exams, almost three.

By the time they had returned and dinner was served, I was only having to fight off waves of fatigue. Nothing a good night's rest and some food couldn't handle.

While we ate, I explained everything that had transpired while they were unconscious. Naruto and Sasuke listened intently, their eyes widening and narrowing at parts in my story. When I was finished, they both seemed oddly enough content.

"Ne, Sasuke, we're lucky we have such an awesome medic on our team," Naruto said as he took another bite out of his fish.

"Thank you," I hummed, munching on my own fish.

Sasuke closed his eyes, taking another bite from his fish. "Hn. I suppose."

"My, my, was that a compliment from Duck Ass, I hear?" I teased, grinning widely.

He opened his eyes long enough to roll them at me. "Hn."

I glanced around the clearing, looking up at the sky.

Do you suppose Kabuto is watching us already?

**Most likely he's been watching us since Naruto and Sasuke have returned from fishing.**

That's true… if he is then that means we can finally leave this hellhole. Damn I want out of here... I want a bath... so... bad...

"Hey Kabuto," I called out, my eyes glancing around lazily. "Come on out, I know you're there."

Naruto and Sasuke gave me curious looks, neither saying anything but clearly wondering what the hell I was talking about.

"Kabuto," I sung out. "You have until three… One… Two…"

A little ways from us the bushes rustled, Naruto and Sasuke's eyes snapped over, only to reveal a smiling Kabuto walking out.

"I'm impressed, Sakura-san, I didn't think I could have been noticed by you," Kabuto said, still smiling as he walked over to us.

"Kabuto? What are you doing here?" Sasuke asked, his eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"It's not like I was after your scroll or something," Kabuto said. "I already have both." He rummaged through his back pocket before presenting two scrolls. Sasuke's and Naruto's eyes widened before he put them back. "A lot happened, but I was headed for the tower to meet up with my teammates. Excuse me for now."

"Wait," Sasuke said. "Fight us. For the scrolls."

"What the hell Sasuke?" Naruto asked.

"Shut up, Dobe. We need the Heaven Scroll since that… person… burned ours," Sasuke snapped. I inwardly cringed at the hesitation from Sasuke. SPID, shame on you for burning our scroll. You hater.

Kabuto smirked and I kind of zoned out. He was saying how we should be more serious if want to finish this challenge. If we really wanted the scrolls we would have just attacked and taken, not declared, yada, yada, yada. But he liked that about us so he's going to show us a path, etc, etc… Then he said to follow him… so we did… (Much to my displeasure but I _really_ wanted to just end it already)

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

While we followed Kabuto, I was lost in my own musings. Not really talking to Inner, just letting my mind wander and slip into day dreams. I didn't need to be alert at the moment.

Finally, after the sun had set and the moon had risen, the tower came into view. Naruto killed a centipede, Kabuto lightly scolded him saying we needed to be quiet and onward we went. We moved slowly and carefully through the forest, attempting to get closer to the tower.

After roughly two hours of walking, I decided enough was enough. "Hold up everyone."

Slowly everyone came to a halt. "We've been walking for at least two hours now and we have not made _any_ progress towards the tower."

"Eh? So?" Naruto asked, eyeing me oddly.

"So?" I asked, "So I think we're already in someone's trap. Genjutsu."

Kabuto eyed me a moment before he nodded his head. "Good assumption, Sakura-san. Now that you mention it… we should be much closer by now at the speed we were going." He glanced around. "I can't believe I didn't even notice it."

"Eh? Really?" Naruto asked, his eyes wide. "What do we do now?"

"Assume they might attack us, soon," I answered. "Simple as that, really."

And just as I said those lovely words, they presented themselves. They emerged from trees, from the ground, from streams…everywhere. Black cladded clones as they inched closer to us, their bodies moving slowly and sluggish.

"And what do you know," I muttered, pulling out a kunai and twirling it in my fingers. Good thing I had grabbed all of my kunai—that I could—after the fight with Dosu's team. As they neared closer, Naruto swung out his fist.

He cut straight through one of them, his body turning into goo before a new a second body emerged from it. That body held a kunai in its hands.

"Naruto!" Sasuke called out, throwing shuriken at the new body before it could hurt Naruto. The new body twisted towards Sasuke before throwing it's kunai at him.

I remembered this scene…

My body acted on its own. I threw myself down on Sasuke, forcing him to dodge the blow before I hopped right back up on my feet and off of Sasuke. I looked down at Sasuke, he laid still, his eyes staring up into space and his body unmoving.

"What the hell is going on?" Naruto asked. "I hit them cleanly and that kunai was definitely real. They should have either disappeared if they were clones and if this was an illusion, none of it should be real!'

"It's a different type of illusion," I answered.

"What?" Naruto asked. "That's can't be right."

"No, Sakura-san is right. Most likely the enemy is elsewhere, and they are matching the illusion ninja's movements. This makes it seem like the illusion ninja are attacking us."

Sasuke slowly sat up, the effects from the curse mark momentarily wearing off.

"Then I'll find the idiots hiding in the forest throwing knives at us, and beat them up!" Naruto shouted.

"Wait, Naruto. In this situation, the source of the real knife is hidden, so we can't figure out the enemy's exact location," I said.

Kabuto nodded his head, glancing over at me. "Listen to her, Naruto-kun. Most likely the real enemy won't come out until we can't move at all. The best we can do, is dodge."

And that's when I decided I would make Kakashi-sensei proud of me, even if I couldn't get praised. While we attempted to dodge, I caught Naruto's attention. I threw down my last smoke bomb, momentarily obscuring the view of our enemies from us. I grabbed Kabuto and Sasuke and in a hushed tone I explained my plan.

Well. Technically it wasn't _my_ plan to begin with. But I'd rather not drag this on any longer than it had to be, and who knows when he would have finally come up with it.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

The plan worked perfectly. When the smoke cleared, Kabuto, Sasuke and I were hidden from sight. Instead Naruto had created shadow clones of us and began a very long night of fighting off the never ending zombie army until finally 'we' had all collapsed due to exhaustion.

Only then did our enemies presented themselves, having them turn out to be the poster from the very beginning of the exams. They made a he army of their shadow clones and Naruto rushed towards them. Kabuto followed after him. Sasuke attempted to use his Sharingan, Kabuto took a blow for Naruto, Naruto kicked their butts… we stole their scroll…

Then _finally_ we headed off to the tower.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

When we arrived there, Kabuto met up with his teammates and we went our separate ways. We headed off into the tower.

"No one's here," Naruto commented after we entered the tower. "What are we supposed to do now?"

Simply because I was seriously craving on being _done_ with this exam and having a friggin' _shower_ already, I decided to go straight to the point. "Open both of the scrolls."

"What? Where'd you get that?" Naruto asked.

I pointed at the sign. "Read it. Come on, let's open them already."

Sasuke and Naruto exchanged a glance before Sasuke shrugged, pulling out the Earth Scroll. Naruto pulled out the Heaven scroll. I grabbed both then unrolled them, having them cross over in an x. "Summoning jutsu."

White smoke came from the scrolls and a loud poofing sound. Finally the smoke cleared to reveal Iruka.

"Hey long time no see," Iruka said, smiling.

"Eh? Iruka-sensei, what are you doing here?" Naruto demanded.

"We Chūnin are to welcome the examinees at the end of this second exam. I was given the duty to pass the three of you a message by chance. Congratulations on passing the second exam. I'd like to treat you ramen at Ichiraku, but… You guys are one of the first teams to finish, so please remain in the tower until the third exam starts," Iruka said.

"One of the first?" Naruto asked, his eyes wide. "That's amazing. Yahoo!"

I let out a little sigh of relief. "Goodie."

Iruka smiled at us. "Congratulations, everyone. I'm very proud of you."

**Shower, shower, shower! Shower, shower, shower! Going to get out of these gritty dirty clothes and finally take a shower! **

Indeed.

"Ehehehe," Naruto said, scratching the back of his head. I glanced over at him, grinning.

"Ne, ne, Iruka-sensei," I asked.

"Yes, Sakura-chan?"

"Who else has past so far?"

He seemed to pause before answering, "Kurenai's team as well as the Sand Village's team."

"Mm, thank you," I said. "So… do we just grab a room here or…?"

He smiled. "There are thirteen rooms here, one for each team with three twin beds for each room. One shower per room. You'll have to room with your teammates."

I nodded once before whirling on my two new roomies. In a very flat tone I said, "I am taking the first shower. End of discussion."

I turned back to Iruka. "Do you know which rooms are already taken…?"

Iruka shook his head. "Sorry, I don't."

I nodded my head again, turning back to Sasuke and Naruto. I placed my hands on my hips. "I'm sure you two have a lot of questions for Iruka, but _I _want to take a shower, therefore _I_ am going to find us a room and take a shower. When I find a room I'll leave a… sock on the doorknob so you know it's ours. When I'm out of the shower I expect you two to take one as well."

I then turned on my heel and marched away, not even bothering to see if they followed.

Only Sasuke did.

* * *

_Ah... I'm not going to be available on Friday at all so I thought I should update today._

_Reviews are love.  
_

_See you Tuesday.  
_


	11. Bloody Preliminaries (I)

_Hello darlings..._

_**Disclaimer: **Naruto is Kishimoto's toy. I'm just playing with it._

_**Warning: **Language. Truly & sincerely._

* * *

The two days waiting for the Third Exam were relatively uneventful. The room we stayed in was fairly large and food was delivered to us. We had no reason to leave said room and so we rarely did. When we did, we didn't—or at least _I_ didn't run into any of the other teams. Which in all honesty seems a complete load of bs, because seriously, what were the odds?

Yes, I understood that tower was huge, yes I understood most teams were probably trying to avoid each other so we didn't have to fight or so we didn't have a chance to properly analyze each other but still… I would have thought for sure I would have run into at least _one_ other person.

But apparently not.

Anyway. So our time in the tower was relatively uneventful. During that time we mostly rested up and did minimal exercise—we didn't want any of the other teams being able to see our battle style or how strong we were, we weren't going to take the risk.

Sasuke was pretty quiet during the two days, though he often woke up in the middle of the night, clutching his neck. I had done my best to ease away his pain but in the end I just decided knocking him a better solution. He didn't seem to care so long as it didn't hurt him anymore.

Naruto was extremely restless the longer we stayed in the room, after the first day I decided it would probably be for the best if Naruto and I took an extremely long, and tiring, walk around the tower right before breakfast and after dinner. Sometimes Naruto took said walk before and after lunch as well.

Me? Well when I wasn't rereading one of the only three medical books I had brought, I was napping away or keeping Naruto occupied.

Overall…. Very uneventful.

But finally! At long last! The Third Exams had arrived…

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

We were all gathered in that single, poorly lit, giant-ass room. You know, the one with the cracks in the cemented walls and permanent blood stains on the stone ground. The room that screams 'fights to the death happen here—a lot.' All the examinees were lined up and stood before the examiners, as well as our sensei and the Third Hokage himself.

I noticed Kakashi and resisted the urge to wave my arm around like an idiot and scream, WOO-HOO! I PASSED, SENSEI! LOOK AT ME, I PASSED! WOO-HOO!

**You only wanted to do that so he would praise you.**

That's not… okay so maybe a little.

**You're a very shallow person.**

Damn it, what are you, my conscience?

**No… **

Well then…

"First of all, congratulations on passing, everyone," Anko stated, her voice echoed across the room. "We will now have an explanation of the Third Exam from Hokage-sama. Everyone, listen well."

The Hokage stepped forward, clearing his throat in the process. "The Third Exam will begin, but before the explanation, there's one thing I want to make clear to all of you. It's about the true purpose of this exam, why we do a joint exam with the allied nations. 'To maintain good relations with the allied nations' and 'heighten the level of the ninja'… Do not let those reasons deceive you. This exam, so to speak, is the epitome of a war between the allied nations."

"What do you mean?" Tenten asked.

"If we go back through history, the allied nations right now were neighboring countries that have fought each other over and over again. To avoid wasting military power, those countries decided to choose a place to fight… That is the beginning of the Chūnin Exams."

"Why do we have to do that?" Naruto demanded, his face screwed up in a mix of disbelief and anger. "Weren't we doing this to select Chūnin?"

"Yes, this exam does examine those who are worthy of the Chūnin title," The Third Hokage allowed. "But on the other hand, it's also a place where ninja fight and carry their country's dignity. In this Third Exam, feudal lords and famous people from various countries who may be potential clients are invited here as guests. And feudal lords from countries with hidden villages and ninja leaders will see your battles. If there's a significant difference in power, the strong country will be flooded with jobs. If a country is seen as weak, their jobs will decrease. And at the same time, countries are able to show how their village has grown and possess excellent military power to the adjacent countries. In other words, they can put foreign pressure on them."

"So why do we have to fight with the risk of losing our lives?" Kiba growled.

"A country's power is the village's power. A village's power is the ninja's power. And a ninja's true power is only born in life-or-death battle. This exam is also a place to show off the ninja power of one's country. Since this is an exam where you fight with your life on the line, it has a meaning and your predecessors have fought and dreamed of being in the Chūnin Exam because of it."

"But why do you say it is to promote good relations?" Tenten asked.

"I told you at the beginning not to get confused with that," The Third reminded. "The custom of saving's one life and fighting to maintain balance… That is the good relation in the world of ninja. This is a life or death battle for your dream and the village's dignity."

Naruto scoffed, "Heh, I understand now."

"I don't care," Gaara muttered, his gaze focused intently on the Hokage. "Tell us the details of this life-or-death exam."

The Hokage nodded his head. "I will, but first…"

Hayate appeared before the Hokage, kneeling. "Excuse me, Hokage-sama. I, Gekkou Hayate, the judge, will explain."

"Please do," Hokage said.

Hayate stood up, turning towards the group. "A pleasure, everyone. But before the Third Exam, fight in some preliminary matches to see who gets to advance to the Third Exam's main battle."

"Preliminary matches? What do you mean?" Shikamaru demanded, stepping forward and glaring.

Hayate sighed. "In this case, it must have been because the First and Second Exam were too easy, I don't know… but there are simply too many examinees left. According to Chūnin regulations, we must decrease the number of participants for the Third Exam. As previously mentioned by Hokage-sama, there are many guests for the Third Exam, so…"

He coughed. "We cannot just have a lot of matches. We are limited on time, as well. So those who aren't feeling well… If anyone wants to quit after hearing the explanation please let me know. The preliminary matches will be immediately."

"Immediately?" Kiba repeated, his voice breaking off into a growl.

"But we just got through the Second Exam," Ino muttered, looking crestfallen.

"How troublesome," Shikamaru grumbled.

"Ah, I forgot to mention this, but you will have one-on-one matches from here on out. So please withdraw if you wish."

At the mention of withdraw, Sasuke winced and grasped his neck in front of me. I glanced at him, frowning. I leaned forward and whispered, "Are you going to be okay?"

Sasuke grimaced. "I'll be fine. The intervals before the pain are just increasing, though."

"I figured," I muttered. "Do you need to withdraw?"

He was quiet for a moment before he shook his head. "No. No, I'll be fine."

"And there's nothing I can say or do to make you think otherwise, Duck-Ass?"

He smirked slightly then winced. "No."

I sighed and raised my hands up in mock defeat. "Alright, I won't say anything more, but when the preliminaries are over, we are hunting down sensei and having him check out your… neck, promise me?"

Sasuke glanced at me and smirked again. "Deal."

Kabuto's hand raised into the air. "I'll quit."

"K-Kabuto-san?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

Hayate glanced at his clipboard. "You are Konoha's Yakushi Kabuto-kun? You may leave then."

"Kabuto-san, why are you quitting?" Naruto demanded.

Kabuto paused, glancing back at Naruto. "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun, but my body hasn't recovered from the Second Exam and I'm afraid I simply wouldn't be much of a challenge for anyone."

Kabuto smiled and waved before he walked away.

I felt a twinge of disappointment at the prospect of not getting the chance to kick his ass. Not that I thought I could kick his ass… yet.

"May I assume there are no more people who wish to retire?" Hayate coughed. "It will be a one-on-one match. Now that we have exactly twenty people, we will have ten matches… and the winners will be able to advance to the Third Exam. There are no rules. You will fight until the other person dies, is knocked out or admits defeat."

"I will be the judge to decide when it's over. I may stop you to prevent any unnecessary deaths. The thing that will hold your destiny…"

He motioned over to the monitor that magically appeared. Just kidding. It actually came out from the wall. "Without further ado, I will now display the names for the first match."

Everyone looked up to the screen.

_**Akadou Yoroi**_

_** Vs**_

_** Uchiha Sasuke**_

I reached over and patted him on the shoulder. "Good luck, Duck-Ass."

He scoffed at me.

"Those with their names displayed, please step forward," Hayate said.

Sasuke and Yoroi walked to the front of the examinees.

"Are there any objections to this first match?" Hayate asked.

"No," Sasuke and Yoroi said.

**All we can do now is watch.**

Goody. How boring.

"We will now begin the first match. Everyone other than the two fighters, please move up there," Hayate said, motioning towards the balcony.

As everyone began to move away, Naruto and I stayed behind with Sasuke as Kakashi approached.

"Kakashi-sensei!" I greeted before Naruto had the chance.

Kakashi dipped his head, walking towards us and stopping to murmur something to Sasuke. When he was finished he began walking towards the balcony as well, Naruto and I followed right behind him.

Once everyone was safely on the balcony, the match began.

Come on, you know how it goes.

Yoroi launched his shuriken, Sasuke countered them with his kunai before his curse seal throbbed and caused him to lose his balance. Yoroi appeared behind Sasuke, Sasuke rolled out of the way and kicked Yoroi's feet in. Then Sasuke pinned him with his legs. Yoroi grabbed him with his special chakra hand, sucking away Sasuke's strength before breaking free of the pin.

Yoroi then grabbed Sasuke's forehead, pinning him to the ground and sucking away his strength. After a few seconds of struggling, Sasuke finally managed to kick Yoroi off of him. Yoroi flew across the room before landing a little ways from Sasuke. Yoroi charged at Sasuke, Sasuke ducked his blows, evading all attacks. But he was still weak from his curse seal and the major strength sucking jutsu.

"Sasuke! Is that all you got? Is that all the great Uchiha Clan has to show?" Naruto had shouted. Sasuke turned his gaze up to the balcony, looking at Naruto before his gaze fell on Lee who stood beside us.

Yoroi charged again, but Sasuke evaded his attacks with more ease, now that he had a plan in his mind. Finally he sidestepped him, before dropping to the ground and slammed his foot up against Yoroi's jaw. Yoroi flew up into the air and Sasuke lurched up, appearing behind him. While he was in the air though, his curs mark activated, threatening to take over. But Sasuke resisted it, forcing it dormant again.

Sasuke feinted a kick at Yoroi's side before slamming into his chest and driving him into the ground. The force drove Sasuke off and away from Yoroi where he laid on the ground, momentarily unmoving. Yoroi had died at the impact though. Sasuke slowly sat up.

"The first match winner is Uchiha Sasuke," Hayate declared.

Kakashi appeared from behind Sasuke, keeping Sasuke from falling back and hitting the ground again from exhaustion due to the curse mark.

Kakashi then escorted Sasuke off to seal the curse mark.

When they had left, Hayate declared the next match.

_**Abumi Zaku**_

_** Vs**_

_** Aburame Shino**_

Shino and Zaku stepped down from the balcony to the center of the room. Hayate began the match.

Zaku charged with his one good arm—his right arm. Shino blocked Zaku's hit with ease. Zaku used his air slicer hit, blowing Shino back. Shino rolled on the ground before straightening back up.

That's when the bugs started crawling out from his body. The bugs marched right towards Zaku from behind, forcing Zaku to use his left arm and attack both Shino and the bugs. But when Zaku tried to attack, his chakra ruptured his arms. And that's when the bugs that Shino had hidden earlier on Zaku made themselves known, crawling out from Zaku's skin and holes in his hands.

Shino completely bitch slapped Zaku, knocking him to the ground and effectively winning the match.

Just before Hayate started the next match though, Kakashi reappeared.

"Yo," Kakashi said, appearing from behind us.

"Kakashi-sensei!" I cheered. "Welcome back. How's Duck-Ass?"

"He's asleep at the hospital right now," Kakashi responded, completely unaffected by my nickname for Sasuke.

I sneaked a peak at the next match.

_**Tsurugi Misumi**_

_**Vs**_

_**Kankurou**_

Oh psh, I'd much rather talk to Kakashi than watch that match.

**Don't be so rude.**

Oh you know you do too.

…**That's beside the point.**

"Kakashi-sensei?" I asked, whilst the two contestants stepped into the center of the room.

"Mm?" Kakashi murmured.

"What did you do while we were in the forest?"

Kakashi paused a moment before answering, "Things."

"What kind of things?"

"Things that I do."

"And what exactly do you do?"

"Things."

"…Do these things involve missions?"

"They might."

"Do they involve danger?"

"They might."

"Do they involve reading a certain favorite _mature_ series?"

"…They might."

"Do they involve completely goofing off?"

"…They might."

"Are you ever going to answer one of my questions with a straight answer?"

"I might."

I gave him a look, clearly stating I was _not_ amused.

Meanwhile, back down below us, Kankuro had already finished his match, having forced Misumi to give up via strangulation from his puppet.

Short match.

"Two against one is unfair. Is that allowed? Is it, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto had asked once the match was over.

"It's not unfair. It's just a doll after all," Kakashi answered.

"A puppet to be exact," I murmured. "He controlled the doll with his chakra. It's merely a tool, like a shuriken."

The screen whirled and finally the fourth match was up.

_**Haruno Sakura**_

_**Vs**_

_**Yamanaka Ino**_

"My turn," I said, grinning hugely. I turned towards Kakashi. "Wish me luck, sensei."

"Good luck, Sakura-chan," Kakashi replied.

"Ne, ne, be sure to win, Sakura-chan!" Naruto chirped, grinning hugely.

I gripped the metal handrail tightly before I swung myself over it and dropped to the stone ground.

Stairs were for people with no imagination.

I walked towards the center of the room, and grinned up at Ino who was heading down the stairs towards me.

Now here's a slight screw up in the storyline coming up because there was no way in hell I was going to _allow_ myself to lose. I was going to give this match my all, and if I won fantastic.

If I didn't win, oh friggin' well. At least I tried.

But either way, I wasn't going to let this slide.

When Ino reached the center with me, my grin softened down to a smile and I nodded at her. "Ino-chan, let's both do our best."

Ino smiled at me. "Alright, Sakura. But when I win, try not to cry _too _hard."

I chuckled.

Inner, you're gonna give me a hand me a hand too?

**Well I **_**am**_** you so, naturally…**

Excellent.

"Begin," Hayate said.

Ino charged towards me, I pulled out my kunai and lurched back, away from her. Ino pulled out three shuriken before throwing them at me. I bent backwards, dodging them before I threw my kunai at her. She dodged it, rushing towards me.

I rushed forward to meet her. Her right fist swung out, I deflected it with my left arm before swinging my right leg up at her. She quickly disengaged, leaping back and away from my kick.

I almost smirked.

I had been fighting strictly with taijutsu with Hinata, the Hyūga Heiress—the clan that excels in taijutsu. Not to mention my own personal experience with jujitsu. There was no way Ino could beat me with taijutsu.

Ninjutsu, most definitely, as I didn't know any.

Genjutsu? We'll see…

But taijutsu? Bitch, please.

I pushed chakra into my feet, forcing me to leap forward at her. Her eyes widened in surprise briefly and she twisted out of the way of my upcoming left fist. I swung my right leg, catching her by surprise and kicking her in the side.

She whirled away from me, rolling onto the ground. I somersaulted in the air, still carrying off force from my lift off, before I hit the ground, sliding. I wasn't down for more than a second before I was back up on my feet and running towards her.

She had flipped back on to her feet, pulling out another kunai. My hand flew to my sack, pulling out a kunai as well. The moment we were in range, I swung my kunai down at her, she blocked it with her own. She swung her left leg out towards me and I poured chakra into my feet before kicking off into the air. She kicked off from the ground and into the air right behind me.

She grinned as she swung out her leg to connect against me when she was in range but I twisted into the air, grabbing her leg. Her eyes widened briefly while I grinned. I gripped her leg tightly, swinging my own body and using my left leg to slam against her chest, pouring in as much chakra as I dared.

My hand released her leg milliseconds before my leg connected.

She rocketed towards the ground, and the moment she connected she forcibly coughed blood, the ground around her cracked under my force, leaving a small crater around her.

I fell towards the ground, somersaulting to land properly. Once I landed I rushed over to her, only to find her unconscious in the ground.

I stared at her. I blinked at her. I looked back up at Hayate who was walking towards us.

He nodded at me. "Sakura is the winner."

**Well… that was anticlimactic.**

You're telling me? I was so looking forward to her possession jutsu just so you could make your appearance. Damn it, what a letdown.

**Well… Ino was kind of… not super-de-duperdy strong like the other shinobi and kunoichi's here…**

…Still…

**And the only two people who had extra training were you and Hinata, so naturally the only two people who would have different results would be you and Hinata.**

I know but… I don't know, I guess I just expected something a bit more. I was planning on using one of my explosive tags too and being all 'Katsu!' and shit but…

**There, there.**

Sarcasm noted.

"Yahoo! Good job! Sakura-chan!" Naruto cheered.

I grinned and waved up at him.

"Excellent work, Sakura-san!" Lee second.

I pushed chakra into my feet before kicked off from the ground and landed up on the balcony between Naruto and Lee. I turned to look at Kakashi.

He dipped his head. "Nicely done, Sakura-chan."

I beamed at his praise.

**P—**

DON'T YOU DARE SAY IT! I HAVEN'T BEEN PRAISED BY KAKASHI IN OVER FIVE DAMN DAYS! YOU. WILL. NOT. RUIN. THIS. FOR. ME!

… **Damn.**

I turned to look down at Ino who was being carried off by the medical unit. I looked back at Kakashi. "Be back."

I hopped off from the balcony, just as the next match was about to be called, and hurried after Ino.

Ino's eyes fluttered open as she laid in the stretcher, the moment they had carried her out of the room. I followed behind her, smiling. "Good match, Ino-chan."

"Sa… I lost…?"

"Mm," I murmured, placing a hand over her forehead and feeling the warm rush of chakra flow through my hands.

She wasn't severely damaged, just fatigue and a few bruises. Possibly a concussion. As we walked—them carrying her and me walking by her side—I kept my hand over her forehead and eased away her fatigue. She relaxed under me, her eyes drifting closed.

"I have to go back, I don't think we're allowed to leave the building yet," I murmured. "But I'll visit you in the hospital the moment I can. Do you want me to bring anything?"

"Yes," Ino whispered. "My favorite book—it's on my nightstand at home—and something _good_ to eat. You know what I like."

I nodded my head, smiling. "No problem, Ino-chan."

My hand fell away from her forehead and I stopped walking. I watched as they carried her out the doors and to the hospital, out of sight, before I turned back on my heel and returned to the preliminaries.

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

Shikamaru and Chōji were with our group now when I returned, as was Asuma. When they noticed me, Shikamaru asked, "How is she?"

"She'll be fine," I said with a smile. "Very mild concussion and a few bruises, she's mainly just exhausted. Though, I imagine she'll be sore for a bit, she should be up for visiting hours by the time the preliminaries are over."

"They were able to tell you all of that?" Chōji asked, wide eyed.

"No," I replied. "_I_ told _myself_ that after I examined her."

"You're a medical nin?" Asuma asked, glancing over at me. At his words, Gai looked over at me as well.

Kakashi answered for me, "Sakura-chan has been training by herself for the past months for medical training. She's been doing exceptionally well."

I beamed at his praise.

…**Praise-whore.**

Damn straight.

"Only a few months, you say?" Gai asked, leaning towards me.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I had help from Hinata-chan."

At Hinata's name, Neji glanced over at me, his eyes narrowed. I looked right back at up, completely indifferent.

All of our eyes snapped back to the room when we heard the sickening snap of Tenten's bones against Temari's fan.

"Fifth match winner, Temari," Hayate said.

Oh, shit that's my cue.

I double doused my feet with chakra, pushing myself off the balcony and down to the center of the room. In the same instance, Temari smirked, throwing Tenten off the blunt of her fan. Tenten slowly fell away, but before she hit the ground, my arms wrapped around her waist and she landed into me.

We slid a few feet away.

"Nice catch," Temari said, smirking.

"Thank you, I pride myself in my catching skills," I muttered, placing a hand over Tenten's forehead.

Gai was beside me in a flash, looking down at me. I looked back up at him. "Sorry, did you want to catch her?"

Gai gave me his signature grin. "Excellent reflex, student of Kakashi's. I'll take her."

"Be my guest," I said. Gai swooped down, grasping Tenten and lifted her into his arms, just as the medic nin arrived. He placed her on the stretcher while I stood up and waved my hand at Temari.

She smirked again before we both turned away and I launched myself back onto the balcony.

"Wow, Sakura-chan, that was a quick reaction," Naruto said, grinning hugely.

I shrugged.

"Thank you for helping my teammate, Sakura-san!" Lee said, quickly cutting in front of Naruto.

"You would have done the same," I assured him, side stepping him and moving to lean against the wall, next to Kakashi.

Kakashi dipped his head at me and I allowed myself a tiny smile.

_**Nara Shikamaru**_

_**Vs**_

_**Kin Tsuchi**_

Shikamaru sighed as he headed down to the center of the room.

Hayate called the match to begin and they began. Shikamaru started with his shadow possession, Kin claimed she saw it coming. She threw her needles, after tricking Shikamaru, she finally hit him in the right elbow.

She then used her 'trick' from before , forcing him into a genjutsu through the sound of bells tied to her needles. She hit him with more of her needles. He caught her in his shadow possession jutsu. He knocked her out after bending over quickly—thus making her bend over quickly as well and hit her head against the wall.

Shikamaru was the winner.

The next match was decided.

_**Uzamaki Naruto**_

_**Vs**_

_**Inuzuka Kiba**_

"My turn! Finally! My turn!" Naruto cheered

"Eh? Do your best, Naruto," I chuckled.

"Just leave it to me!" Naruto exclaimed, fist pumping the air. Naruto grabbed the handrail, and swung himself over to the side and landing in the center of the room.

Kiba smirked and followed his example. The two stood facing each other in the center.

"I'm tired of all that waiting," Naruto shouted. "It's finally my turn to show off my moves."

Kiba glared. "That's my line! Drawing you as my opponent means I've already won! Right Akamaru?"

Akamaru barked in his little adorably high pitched voice.

I squealed slightly. Kakashi glanced over at me. I turned back to him. "The puppy is so cute!"

He rolled his one eye.

"Keep dreaming, you can't win against me!" Naruto shouted.

"Go Naruto!" I shouted.

Naruto turned up at me, giving me a thumbs up and a grin.

Finally the match began. Kiba began with his best mimicking jutsu, rushing forward and jabbing Naruto in the stomach with his elbow. Naruto flew back, slamming into the ground a little ways from him. For a while he laid there until he pulled himself back up and declared to never underestimate him.

Akamaru joined in the fray, Kiba launched smoke bombs into the room. In the smoke he launched a furry of attacks at Naruto.

When the smoke cleared 'Naruto' was slumped onto the ground unconscious. Kiba opened his arms to embrace his dog 'Akamaru' when 'Akamaru' lunged himself at Kiba, biting him in the arm. 'Akamaru' then revealed himself to actually be Naruto.

Kiba tossed the real Akamaru a special pill, turning his fur red and causing him to become more aggressive. Kiba swallowed another pill, turning into a more bestial form—a cross between a wolfish dog and human, minus the fur. Then he turned Akamaru into an exact replica of himself through a jutsu.

The two launched themselves at Naruto, with Naruto barely managing to dodge. Thus began the barrage of teamed attacks against Naruto, with Naruto just barely managing to dodge most of them. Finally Kiba and Akamaru managed a critical hit, seemingly to have won the match until Naruto stood back up, shakily.

Kiba and Akamaru attacked again, Naruto just barely dodging. After a while of multiple attacks, Kiba threw in another smoke bomb and began another barrage of attacks. The smoke cleared. Akamaru and Kiba charged with another 'final' attack, throwing in another smoke bomb. Finally the smoke cleared, revealing…. Three Kibas!

Kiba declared he could scent out the real Naruto and attacked… one of the fake Kibas. Only for it to be revealed as Akamaru. He attacked the other one… and that one was Akamaru as well!

Le Gasp!

Finally the first Akamaru turned out to be Naruto, who attacked Kiba from behind. Naruto declared he would finish the match with his new move. Kiba charged, Naruto dodged his attacks. Kiba landed a few hits, knocking Naruto around, and once again just when Naruto was thought to have lost… he got back up.

Kiba charged again and again until finally Naruto grabbed him and flipped him over. By now, Naruto was extremely bruised and battered with multiple scratches bleeding profusely.

Kiba charged again, Naruto barely dodged… Kiba charged again, only this time he came from behind, his nose particularly close to Naruto's ass right before he prepared to kick him… Naruto farted.

Kiba with his oversensitive dog nose, immediately reacted badly, clutching his face and grunting and muttering under his breath. Naruto finally had time to try his final move—shadow clone jutsu. And finally each of the clones completely kicked Kiba's butt in a very epic fashion.

Naruto finally won the match like the main protagonist he was.

Naruto cheered before running up the stairs back to us. But before he reached us… Hinata stopped him. She gave him ointment for his bruises and he thanked her before heading back over to us, grinning hugely.

I leaned over him and gave Hinata a thumbs up and winked. She blushed brightly and abruptly turned away. I giggled.

"Congratulations, Naruto," I said.

"Ehehehe," Naruto chuckled, rubbing the back of his head then wincing.

"Need some help?" I asked, stretching out my hand and placing it on his forehead.

"Yes please! Thank you Sakura-chan," Naruto said.

I nodded my head, easing away his fatigue. "Just be sure to take extra care of that ointment, Hinata-chan gave you. It's a very good medicine that will seriously come in handy if a medic nin isn't nearby."

"Really?" Naruto asked, glancing down at the small box of ointment in his hands.

I retracted my hand, my green chakra flickering once before dying out. I nodded my head. "Mm-hmm. It's very expensive too. Hinata-chan must have really thought _you_ deserved it."

Naruto grinned hugely. "Really? Me?"

"Yep," I sung, turning my head back to the board.

It was time for the next match.

* * *

_Viola. _

_Reviews are love._

_See you Friday/Tuesday.  
_


	12. Bloody Preliminaries (II)

_Hello..._

_**Disclaimer: **Naruto is Kishimoto's toy. I'm just playing with it._

_**Warning: **Language and anticlimactic-ness._

* * *

_**Hyūga Hinata**_

_**Vs.**_

_**Hyūga Neji**_

My eyes widened as I stared at the screen in a flash of horror. One of my least favorite fights in the history of Naruto—not the Shippuden series, but Naruto.

My eyes darted towards Hinata who stared at the screen in absolute terror before she gulped and headed towards the center of the room. My heart plummeted when I saw how hesitant she appeared.

I raised my voice and called out to her, "Hinata-chan! Just like we practiced. Don't let that arrogant prick beat you down."

Hinata glanced over at me, a relieved expression crossing over her face before she smiled hesitantly. I gave her a thumbs up and a smile.

But when she looked back at Neji, who now descended the stairs, her expression flickered back to a fearful one.

I gripped the handrails tightly. Beside me, the others were discussing the Hyūga family history. How it was a fight between relatives yet at the same time a fight between very bitter segregation in the family, etc, etc.

Hinata would be fine. She's trained extra hard just for this match. She can take Neji. She can. I believed in her.

**Don't underestimate Neji.**

Don't underestimate Hinata!

"Please begin the match," Hayate said.

Neji took a fighting stance, bringing his right foot back. I leaned forward over the railing to catch what he was saying. "Before we fight, let me warn you about one thing, Hinata-sama."

Hinata glanced up at him, her eyes wide and filled with worry.

"Give up," He said, ignoring her appalled look he continued, "You're not suited to become a ninja. You are too kind. You seek harmony and avoid trouble. And you just go along and follow someone else's idea. And… you have no self-confidence. You always feel inferior. That's why you thought it would be fine to remain a Genin. But you cannot register for Chūnin Exam unless there are three people. You couldn't refuse the offers from Kiba and your teammate and as such you're taking this exam unwillingly."

"Am I wrong?" Neji asked.

"You're wrong… You're wrong!" Hinata said, her eyes widening before she glanced away from Neji. "I just… I j-just wanted to-to changed myself, so I-I willingly came."

Neji continued to watch her for another moment before he spoke again. "Hinata-sama, you are indeed a spoiled child from the head family."

I gripped the handrail tighter, glaring furiously at Neji.

"W-What…?" Hinata asked, looking back up at Neji.

"People cannot change," Neji replied. "A failure is a failure. His personality and power will not change." Beside me Naruto glowered, gripping the handrail tightly. "People cannot change, so that's why terms like 'elites' and 'failures' exist. "

Hinata continued to stare at Neji, hurt flickering across her face. He continued. "Everyone judges you by how good your face, head, abilities, body shape, and personality are. There are things that cannot be changed. People suffer due to their limits, and live. Just like how we can't change the fact that I am from the branch family and you are from the head family. My Byakugan has seen many things. That's why I know! You are just trying to be tough. You are really thinking about how you want to leave this place right now."

Hinata shook her head. "That's not true! I really want to…"

Neji shook his own head, a thin line of concentration crossing over his features until finally… "Byakugan!"

Veins popped out around his eyes, his vision increased to his three-hundred-and-fifty-nine-degrees.

Hinata was shaking with fear now. My hands clenched as tightly as I could onto the handrail, I didn't mean to pour chakra into my hands but my worry and frustration got the better of me. Before I knew it, I had dented the handrail. Not that it really mattered.

"You understand now, that you will lose," Neji said, his voice cold as steel. Beside me, Naruto gritted his teeth. Hinata raised her arm, almost in a defensive position. Neji noticed it.

"You raised your arm, showing you want to put a wall between me and yourself to create some distance, yes? It's an action that shows that you don't want me to look through your true feelings. Because you are afraid," He continued.

The handrail broke underneath my hand. I tour my gaze away from Hinata and looked down at it.

**Calm down girl, Hinata-chan isn't going to **_**die.**_

No. Just lose all shreds of self-esteem she has in this fight, fail miserably in front of her crush and friends and be mocked as a disgrace by her strict father who refuses to acknowledge her as his eldest child. Oh, and pretty much be threatened to be disowned.

… **She won't **_**die**_**…**

This is why I didn't like Neji in the beginning. Sure he becomes kick ass later but right now he's just a flat out jerk face.

"…so you know that you cannot change."

"You can!" Naruto interrupted Neji from his harsh analyzing on Hinata. Slowly Neji turned his head to look back up at Naruto, and Hinata's eyes widened as she looked up at her crush.

"Don't label people like that, you idiot!" Naruto snarled. "Hurry up and kick his ass, Hinata!"

"Show him who's the true heir to the Hyūga Clan, Hinata-chan!" I shouted, shooting Neji a venomous look.

Hinata's eyes widened briefly, as she looked between the two of us. Ever so slowly, her shaking stopped and her eyes watered for a moment or two before she blinked back her tears.

Her hands clenched tightly to her side before she relaxed and turned to look back up at Neji, a determined look on her face.

"So you're not going to give up? Don't blame me, later on," Neji said after seeing her face.

Hinata didn't respond, instead she activated her own Byakugan. She assumed a fighting stance.

"Nejinii-san, now let us fight," Hinata said, her voice unwavering.

I felt a rush of pride swell through me.

Neji gave the barest hint of a nod before he assumed his own fighting stance. "Very well."

They lurched forward.

Hinata brought her first hand forward, her palm facing towards Neji as she attempted to block his chakra network. He dodged, bringing forward his own palm to attempt to block her own network. The two began a furry of attacks, neither one of them being able to land a hit at first.

Their feet slid across the floor as they both fought, trying to assume a better stance than the other. When their palms were deflected, blow to blow, a loud slapping hum could be heard. Almost like a slab but much more deep, and much more strong. Blue chakra swirled around their hands as they attacked.

Finally Hinata managed a graze against Neji, he grimaced, disengaging from combat. He scowled before they both engaged in combat again. Blow to blow they fought until…

Neji struck a blow against Hinata's chest, directly hitting her heart. Hinata gagged and coughed up blood.

In episode 47, it was that move that pretty much decided the match. In episode 47, Hinata continued to fight a hopeless battle against her senior cousin, despite the odds. In episode 47, Hinata had her ass handed to her on a silver platter with the words 'YOU FAIL AT LIFE' scrawled across Hinata's heart, forever dragging her down.

Up until now, it had been following episodes 46 and 47 perfectly.

It was that blow, that was the turning point.

Instead of continuing to attack Neji in close range, like she had before, she quickly disengaged from Neji, jumping back and away from him and out of his range. She clutched her chest, gasping and breathing heavily.

Neji narrowed his eyes at her.

Hinata winced slightly before she closed her eyes briefly, her face screwed up in concentration.

**Holy shit! I bet she's having a flash back.**

Shit, I think you're right. Which one though?

**Which flash back would come in handy for a time like this?**

Freak! That one!

**Exactly!**

F**L**A**S**H **B**A**C**K** T**I**M**E**!**

**(Epic Flash Back During A Training Session With Hinata)**

My breath came out in short, ragged gasps. I struggled to stand for a moment before another wave of fatigue decided for me it was time to sit down.

My knees buckled underneath me and I fell to the grassy floor with a thump and a groan.

A moment passed and Hinata fell right beside me, her own breath coming out in short pants.

"Dear… Pein… That… _Hurts_, Hinata-chan!" I complained, my arms twitching as I tried to move them. Only sharp pain and flashes of numbness danced across them.

"That's… the… point… S-Sakura…" Hinata gasped before she groaned and rolled over on her back. She turned her head, wincing slightly. "I… d-disabled… a-all of y-your chakra in y-your arms…"

I groaned. "I can't… I can't feel my ass now."

A moment passed before a giggle bubbled out of Hinata. "I-I didn't t-touch th-there S-Sakura-chan."

"Lies," I half shouted, too tired to fully shout. "You literally… kicked… my ass…"

"I-It w-was… supposed to be… you're st-stomach… I didn't kn-know you'd turn a-around... and b-bend over… like that," Hinata defended.

I groaned again. "Stomach… Yes because that's _so_ much better."

She giggled again and I shot her a tired glare before smiling to myself. Then I realized how much pain I was in and moaned.

"So… So what would… happen if something like that… the whole chakra blocking shit… hit my chest… my heart….?" I asked, my mind wandering towards that dreaded match that I knew was coming up.

"Y-You're s-screwed?" Hinata asked, her face turning even brighter red at the word choice. Hell yes! I was rubbing off on her.

"No… seriously…" I grumbled.

"I… d-don't know. I-I suppose m… maybe…"

"Could… could you reverse the affects?" I asked.

"Wh… What?"

"Hyūga chakra blocked it… maybe Hyūga chakra could unblock it," I muttered, my mind already lost in the la-la land of medical fields.

That would make sense, though, wouldn't it? Direct chakra puncturing through the chakra network and jabbing the heart… that's what really caused Hinata's damage in the episode. The chakra network around her heart was ruptured and kept up residual damage throughout the entire match. Every time her heart overworked itself, it was getting stabbed and punctured by the ruptured chakra.

With that in mind, couldn't she simply reverse the effects? Couldn't she redirect the ruptured chakra to flow away from her heart and towards a different part of her body?

Granted, it would be extremely difficult, and very much temporary. She wouldn't be able to control her chakra flow for that long unless she was like… Madara or Pein and had beyond natural chakra control.

But… if she could…

I glanced at Hinata. "Hey… Hina-chan… I want to show you something…"

**(Flashback Over D: )**

**Is she going to use what we taught her?**

I hope so, that would be seriously kick ass! _But…_

**Ah yes… the infamous **_**but**_**. **

Hinata's hand slowly raised towards her chest, hovering above her heart before she pressed it against herself. Her hand glowed a dull blue and her eyes stayed shut and focused.

I stared down at her, my emotions momentarily conflicting with relief and worry. She was going to do it.

Neji watched her with narrowed eyes, his Byakugan scanning over her as he tried to figure out what she was doing.

"Eh? What's Hinata-chan doing?" Naruto asked, looking down at Hinata. "Why's she so still?"

Kakashi and everyone else had followed Naruto's gaze, each holding an indifferent or a questioning look.

"She's redirecting her chakra flow," I said.

"Eh?" Naruto asked, wide eyed.

"And how is she doing that?" Kakashi asked. Though I figured he probably already knew the answer. Kakashi was just simply that smart, though he probably asked for the sake of his 'Eternal Rival' and Naruto.

"She's pushing in chakra from her hand and into the ruptured network. She's then forcing her chakra from her hand to guide the ruptured chakra into another area—most likely her hands. Once she's got the flow going, she'll merely have to keep her concentration on the flow for the rest of the battle. But it shouldn't be hard," I answered.

"After all, it's something we've both been practicing on," I hummed. "She can hold her concentration for eleven solid minutes in the middle of a match before it slips."

"What happens when it slips?" Naruto asked.

My eyes lowered, a frown pulled my lips down. "Game over. Because the chakra is fighting against its regular flow, the moment its released, it springs back with quite a bit of pent up force."

I winced, recalling my own memories of training with it. Subconsciously, my hand drifted up to rub my right shoulder. Our shoulders were the areas we practiced our techniques on.

"She'll either be knocked unconscious immediately or…" I trailed off, my frown deepening as I recalled where exactly she was hit.

"Or?" Shino asked, his voice unnervingly quiet.

"She'll go into cardiac-arrest," I answered quietly.

"What?" Naruto shouted. "Are you serious?"

"Very," I muttered. I shook my head.

"Seems like a very risky move," Kakashi said.

"I suppose. But Hinata will be able to finish this match before her eleven minutes are up. I'm sure of it," I said, my voice sounding more confident than I suddenly felt.

She can keep her concentration for eleven minutes when fighting me. When fighting someone who will not kill her, when fighting with a wound that will not threaten her life. When fighting without an ounce of pressure on her.

**The question then begs, how long can she hold her concentration in a situation like this?**

"If you say so, Sakura-chan," Naruto exclaimed, grinning his trademarked grin.

Hinata's eyes snapped open and her hand fell away. She rushed forward at Neji, swinging her right palm forward towards him. He sidestepped her, launching his own palm towards her.

She ducked and spun out of his way, swinging her left leg towards his knee. He scowled at her as he jumped up above it. Her leg made a full rotation around her by the time Neji touched the ground again. She brought her left palm, jerking it towards him. Again he dodged her, twisting to the left(her right), but Hinata predicted it. Her right palm jutted out, connecting solidly with Neji's left shoulder.

His eyes widened briefly in shock before they narrowed again. Faster than Hinata—before she could retract her right arm—his left hand, single index finger and middle finger at a point, jabbed into her wrist.

She cried out in pain, quickly retracting her hand.

Neji's left arm hung limply by his side. He twitched his fingers before he scowled dangerously at Hinata. Hinata attempted to move her right hand, but she was only capable of twitching her fingers.

Hinata's eyes widened as Neji rushed towards her. He reached her far too quickly for her to react. His right palm brought it forward and jabbed her in her left shoulder. She cringed from the blow, it was enough to force her to stumble backwards.

Before she could recover herself, Neji before her again, this time he brought his right palm forward, completely jabbing it into her stomach (Not actually _into_ her stomach, but… you know). She retched, coughing up block on instinct before she twisted away from him and fell to the floor in a heap.

"Hinata-sama, this is the difference in our unchangeable powers," Neji said as he walked towards her. "It's the difference that separates he elites from the dropouts. This is the unchangeable reality. You were destined to regret this when you said that you didn't want to run away. You should be in despair right now. This is your last warning. Give up."

Hinata trembled from her own body demanding that she do exactly as Neji suggested.

"I'm… not going to…" She struggled, her left arm refusing to work from Neji's previous attack. Her right hand trembled as she placed all the pressure she had on it, attempting to get back up.

"…to take back… my…" She forced herself up, her legs wobbling slightly. "words…"

She turned to face Neji, her eyes hardened with determination. "That's my way of the ninja."

As she said that last part, her eyes glanced over at Naruto before she quickly looked away.

For a flash, I could have sworn I saw Neji's own eyes soften. But that could have been my imagination.

_Okay… so maybe Neji wasn't such a jerk… but he still hurt Hina-chan which is absolutely a no-no._

"I didn't know Hinata was so tough," Naruto said beside me, his eyes slightly wide.

"She's very similar to you," Lee said, turning to look at Naruto.

I nodded my head. "She's always been watching you, Naruto."

"What?" Naruto asked, glancing over at me before looking back at Hinata.

"Come then," Neji said, assuming a fighting stance. But his left arm remained to dangle uselessly.

Hinata mirrored his stance, her own left arm dangling uselessly, and her right hand twitched as she forced it to work despite its very clear protests not to.

She rushed forward.

Her right palm jutted out and Neji ducked below it, bringing up his own right arm. She dodged out of the way before dropping down to the ground and kicking out her right leg. Neji jumped above it, swinging out his left leg. She rolled underneath it before popping right back up and aiming another palm-thrust at Neji.

It became similar in the beginning, neither one landing a direct hit or graze. Only this time they had lost the use of their left arms and Hinata's right hand refused to form the correct hold for more than a few seconds before it relaxed and she had to force it back again.

Finally Neji managed to deflect Hinata's attack, forcing her right arm to shoot downwards while she stumbled forwards. He quickly twisted his body, his hand reaching out and his palm smashed against Hinata's lower jaw, forcing her upward. In the same motion though, Hinata kicked her legs. Neji ducked away from her right leg, but her left leg connected against his own jaw.

Hinata twisted in the air, landing a little ways from Neji and stumbling. Neji rolled with the kick, stumbling a little ways as well.

Hinata gagged and spat, spitting out blood. Her body trembled violently and panic washed over me.

Did she break her concentration already?

I prepared to launch myself over the railing and catch her but her body stopped trembling before I could do anything.

She was breathing heavily and her face screwed up in concentration. Neji twisted his head, his right hand rubbing against his bruised jaw.

Hinata rushed forward again.

Another bout of blows between them. I watched it all with anxiety washing over me.

How much time has passed?

How much longer can Hinata last?

Neji ducked out of the way from Hinata's right palm when seemingly out of nowhere _Hinata's left palm jabbed forward and connected against Neji's chest._

The force sent Neji stumbling back and clutching his chest as he breathed heavily, his face a perfect mask of shock and disbelief.

I don't blame him. Mine was as well. Neji had sealed off Hinata's chakra network completely in her arm when he connected with her shoulder. Her arm was supposed to be virtually useless.

There was no possible way unless…

No.

Dread and horror settled in the pit of my stomach.

Oh please Hinata, tell me you didn't.

"H…How?" Neji asked, his voice sounding ragged as he struggle to breath. Hinata had successfully ruptured a chakra network around his heart.

"I… forced the redirection of chakra… around my heart… t-to my arm…" Hinata said, her voice barely holding enough energy to be heard.

She did.

"That's so cool!" Naruto said, "Now Hinata has both her arms again."

"No," I snapped. "That was a onetime deal and a very, very stupid choice."

"What do you mean, Sakura?" Kurenai asked.

I gripped the handrails, gritting my teeth for a moment before I answered. "The chakra around her heart was ruptured and she's been forcing the flow of chakra someplace else so it wouldn't attack her heart. Most likely into the palms of her hands or the bottom of her feet. Those are safe places where she can safely exert the raw chakra without hurting her body."

My grip tightened. "What she did there was forcibly push chakra from her heart straight into her blocked hand. It's like… a tiny little dam made up of sticks and twigs built on a little creek. When all of a sudden a huge river of water rushes towards that dam. Neji created that dam. Her chakra in her arm was that creek and what she did was force a river into her already damaged and small system. Do you suppose that the river would be a nice river and not completely destroy all the wildlife surrounding the small creek? No. What she did there for a single good hit, was completely rupture her entire chakra network in her left arm."

"She…" Lee said, his mouth hanging slightly open. Whether it was in awe or horror, I would never know.

"Not only that she redirected her first flow path around her heart," I whispered, my voice tight. "Meaning if she doesn't quickly direct her flow of chakra from her heart back to her feet or hands, it'll continue to barrage down her blasted arm, completely eating her arm from the inside out. Raw chakra is never a good thing to have running loose inside your body. Not to mention… simply changing the flow too suddenly like she did… and suddenly again like she needs to do… risks the chance of the chakra backfire and attacking her heart. Meaning she could immediately send herself into cardiac-arrest or worse…"

"Worse?" Naruto asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Destroy her heart in an instant," I replied.

Beside me, everyone tensed.

For a very tense, very heart pounding moment, Neji continued to stare at her in shock while Hinata closed her eyes.

When she reopened them, her arm dropped lamely to her side and she continued to breath heavily.

I let out a relieved breath. She safely redirected her chakra. Thank God/Pein/Jashin/Kami.

Neji retched, coughing up blood, his face contorted into a scowl. He rushed forward. Hinata rushed forward as well.

A last round of fighting. Already I could see the effects of Hinata's attack on Neji. His reaction time slowed, and he had to disengage on multiple times, only to be racked with a fit of blood-filled coughs. But Hinata was not much better. Her own reactions were slowed and her right hand refused to work at all now so she had to resort to mostly kicking.

Finally, Neji reentered combat, his right arm jutting out last minute to connect against a slow Hinata.

I saw the rush of blue chakra enfold and wrap around his hands as he connected solidly against her.

We all heard the sickening thud and Hinata retched up blood.

Neji stumbled away from her, breathing heavily and clutching his own chest.

Hinata fell forward, almost in slow motion. My eyes widened in fear and panic as I saw her eyes roll to the back of her head.

Already my body was in motion, I swung myself over the handrail and kicked off from the balcony, pouring in as much chakra as I could into my feet.

She hit the floor and her body began to spasm. She was in cardiac-arrest.

"Medic!" I screeched, my arms wrapping around Hinata as my hand found her chest.

Healhealhealheal_sweetRamenKing_healhealhealhealheal.

**Calm down!_ Focus!_**

Despite my best friend going into _cardiac-arrest_ in my arms, a wave of clam washed over me. Just a wave though, and just enough to get my chakra flowing as I poured in as much as I could around her heart, wrapping it in a safe cocoon. Her chakra network was exploding inside of her chest, sending in waves of raw chakra. I tried to wrap my own chakra around it, trying to seal it off but I couldn't do it.

_I couldn't do it._

All I could do was wrap my chakra around her heart and most of her lunges like a shield and pray to whoever was listening that she would be okay.

I didn't even notice the medics beside me with a stretcher until one touched my shoulder.

"We have her," One of them said.

"I-I c-can't move my hand-using-chakra a-as cocoon," I said, my voice shaking and sounding oddly high pitched.

They nodded. Their hands wrapped underneath Hinata and glanced at me. I nodded my head.

They lifted her on the stretcher, my hand never left her chest as they raised the stretcher.

Another hand fell over my own, and I felt the wave of another person's chakra wrap around my own chakra. Their chakra replaced mine and I finally retracted my hand, my eyes wide with worry.

"Don't worry, we have her," One of them said.

They began to walk away, that third medic never once wavering in healing Hinata and I began to follow before I felt a warm hand on my shoulder.

I turned around, my eyes felt oddly wet. I didn't realize my bottom lip had been quivering until I bit on it with worry. I stared up at Kakashi.

"I know you want to go with her, but you're not allowed to leave yet," Kakashi said.

I shot a panicked look over my shoulder. He squeezed my shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry Sakura-chan. She'll be fine."

"B-But," I whimpered. "It-It's all my fa-fault… I-I'm th-the one who-who…"

He squeezed my shoulder again.

"She was a stubborn person to begin with," Neji said quietly, though his voice carried over to my ears. "She was destined to lose, as the drop out she was."

Before I could violently kill Neji Hyūga, Kakashi wrapped an arm around me and placed a hand over my mouth. I thrashed for a moment or two before I sagged in his arms, my eyes closed as bitter tears escaped me.

If I had never shown her how… if I had never… her life wouldn't be in danger. She was fine in the show… physically at least… now… what if she dies…?

**She won't die. She's stronger than that. Why else do you think we helped her endurance? She'll live through this.**

It's my entire fault. Hinata I'm _so_ sorry.

**Stop it! Stop it right now. Hinata will pull through this. She's become so much stronger than before, she **_**will**_** life through this and you need to stop all your damn worrying.**

I'm so sorry Hinata-chan…

**Bah! You damn praise-whore. **

Shut up! Can't you see I'm having a moment here?

**Our moment is **_**over**_**.**

IT'S NOT OVER UNTIL THE FAT LADY FRIGGIN' SINGS YOU LITTLE—

I was cut off from my would-be-cursed-filled-insult-at-my-Inner from the sound of sandals hitting the concrete floor.

I opened my eyes, only to find Naruto kneeling beside Hinata's pool of retched up blood.

Neji had noticed Naruto too, for he stopped walking away and turned to face him. "You… Let me warn you about two things. If you're a ninja, stop with that unsightly cheering for a stranger. And one more thing, a drop out is a drop out. They cannot change."

"Do you want to try?" Naruto challenged, his voice low and dangerous. He rushed forward, Neji smirked.

Before he could reach him, Lee intercepted, holding out his arms in a blocking stance.

Naruto barely managed to stop himself from punching Lee.

"I understand how you're feeling, Naruto-kun," Lee said, his voice rough. "But you should fight in a proper match. A dropout will defeat a genius with hard work… The main matches will be exciting. But I may be his opponent."

Neji—the proclaimed Hyūga Clan prodigy—scoffed at Lee and Naruto.

"I will hold no grudges if you were to match up with him," Lee finished.

Naruto continued to give Neji a hard glare before he scoffed. "Fine."

He turned away, heading back to the pool of blood. He glanced over at me, and I felt my tears slowly stop. I was still shaking though, shaking with worry, and fear for Hinata. But also with absolute rage and frustration at Neji and myself.

He looked back down at the blood. He knelt down to it, his fingers reaching forward as he touched the blood. "Hinata… I promise…"

He stood back up, his bloodied hand clenched into a fist as he glared at Neji. "I promise, I will win."

I felt a small twinge of satisfaction rush through me. I knew Naruto would. I knew Naruto would avenge Hinata. I knew it and I knew Neji was going to get his ass handed to him in the most Naruto-way.

Surprising with a touch of humiliation for the other Naruto's opponent 'cause they finally get sense knocked into them and realize how shameful they are.

I still wanted to be the one to kick his ass.

I sniffled and looked back up at Kakashi. He looked down at me. "You can visit her when we're finished here. Come on, let's get back to the balcony."

I closed my eyes and nodded, relaxing in my sensei's comforting one armed hug.

And slowly, I allowed my sensei to lead me back up to the balcony, Naruto trailing behind us.

* * *

_An entire chapter dedicated to a fight scene. This was a bitch to write._

_I can't decide if it's too short or not. Oh well._

_I'd like to say now that you guys are wonderful and I heart you all. :) Seriously, 64 reviews in only 11 (now 12) chapters? Amazing! I updated today as I wouldn't be able to on Friday._

_Reviews are love._

_See you Tuesday (or Sunday if I decide it was too short...).  
_


	13. Bloody Preliminaries (III)

_Another installment..._

_**Disclaimer: **Naruto is Kishimoto's toy. I'm just playing with it._

_**Warning: **Language._

* * *

I sat on the rails, my feet dangling over the edge. Kakashi was leaning against the wall, behind me. Naruto and the others were beside me. The next match was about to be decided.

My hands gripped the handrails tightly, my stomach still felt unsettled from Hinata's match. I was beside myself with worry but I knew Kakashi was right. I couldn't do anything now, I wasn't allowed to leave. Besides… she was in good hands now. Professional hands, at least.

Still didn't stop me from feeling anxious.

As the monitor whirled, randomly selecting names, Gaara dissolved into sand.

My eyes followed him as he reappeared below. He knew just as well as I did that it was his turn.

**Gaara**

** Vs.**

** Rock Lee**

"Good luck, Lee-san," I said, turning my head and giving him a small smile. My legs continued to dangle and swing in the open air.

"Yosh! I will do my youthful best, Sakura-chan!" Lee exclaimed, jumping off into the air, somersaulting, only to land in front of Gaara.

I stared down after him, then I looked up at Gaara.

I tried not to squeal at him, my anxieties over Hinata momentarily replaced with complete fangirlism.

**Is that even a word?**

Well it is now! Look at him! He's so _kawaii._

**Don't start speaking Japanese! **

Hai, hai…

**What did I just say?**

Gaara looks like a grumpy panda cup who's just woken from a nap. He looks like he needs a hug and a glomp and to be smothered in affection.

**…What?**

Lee looks… like Lee. I can't even properly compare him to anything because it simply would not do. I could compare him to Gai but…

**Speaking of Lee and Gai… are they like… father / son?**

No, but they might as well be.

**True that…**

I wonder how Hinata-chan is doing now…

**Aw shit… don't go all depressed now. Sasuke is the only emo allowed on the show! Look, a distraction!**

What distraction?

…**They're starting the match.**

Sure enough, Hayate now said the magic words for the match to begin.

Lee wasted no time in running forward towards Gaara. He jumped into the air, spinning in the same motion and bringing out his right leg. "Leaf Hurricane!"

Before Lee's kick could even connect with Gaara, sand rushed up from out of Gaara's gourd and formed a wall between Gaara and Lee. Gaara didn't even flinch when Lee's kick connected with the sand. The sand rushed to grab hold of Lee but Lee disengaged from battle, jumping out of range.

The sand retracted into Gaara's gourd.

Go Gaara!

**Don't forget spandex boy.**

Oh, sorry. Go Lee!

Lee rushed forward again and Gaara's sand poured out once more. Lee kicked and punched like a pro, but all he ever hit was sand. The sand began to swamp around Lee, forcing Lee back a few steps to fight off the aggressive sand. He disengaged from battle again.

Beside me, everyone shifted uneasily.

"Lee's fast attacks aren't working at all," Naruto said, staring down with a mix of wonder and horror in his face. "What's going on?"

"Physical attacks have no effect on Panda-kun," I said nonchalantly. "Regardless of Panda-kun's will, the sand will shield and protect him. It's why no has ever—as of yet—physically hurt him."

I sighed dreamily.

"You certainly seem to know a lot about Lee's opponent, most youthful student of Kakashi," Gai said, glancing over at me.

"Of course. I am a fan girl of his," I said, my voice sounding oddly cheerful.

Naruto snorted. "You've only met him once, Sakura-chan!"

"Call me crazy but I feel like I've known him my whole life," I said, allowing myself a tiny secret smile.

**Don't smile like that, people will think you stalk him or something.**

Bah.

Nonetheless I dropped my smile, choosing instead to mold an indifferent face.

The sand rushed forward, far too fast for Lee to react. The sand grabbed hold of Lee's leg before lifting him up in the air only to throw him against a concrete wall on the other side of the room. Lee landed with a sickening thud before he dropped to the floor.

He barely had enough time to roll out of the way before the next rush of sand launched itself at him. Lee rolled up onto his feet, running towards Gaara and swinging his limbs out to punch and kick him. Not once did he land a successful hit that time. Gaara's and easily deflecting all of the hits.

Gaara's sand once again switched to the offensive side, forcing Lee back. This time though, Lee slipped on some sand that had forced its way underneath Lee's feet. He fell backwards, only to find a wave of sand preparing to crash down on him in the same instance.

Faster than what my eyes could follow, the sand crashed down in the same spot Lee was in. But Lee was no longer there, instead he was flipping through the air to land high above everyone else, on the top finger of the statue that rested in the front of the room.

"Lee! Take them off!" Gai shouted, jutting out a thumbs up in the process.

Lee glanced over at his idol, moving his hand to salute him. He shouted back, "But, Gai-sensei, I thought that was only permitted when protecting many important people."

"I don't care. I will allow it!" Gai responded.

Lee gave a happy smile before he began to pull off his weights.

Weights…

I stared at them.

Damn… I feel incredibly stupid right now.

**What? What did you do this time?**

It's not what I did… it's what I _didn't_ do. Damn! I really feel like an idiot now.

**What are you..? Oh.**

Yeah. I can't believe I didn't think about using weights for training… at all. That's it. After the matches are over, I have to get some weights.

Lee finished pulling off his weights, grinning hugely. He dropped them.

They landed with a very loud thud, leaving large craters in the ground where they rested. The force was enough to lift up a large cover of dust and debris. Not to mention it had nearly everyone gaping at how much those weights must have weighed.

"Nice," I said.

"Go, Lee!" Gai said, his voice almost coming out as commanding.

"Yessir!" Lee said, excitement and energy bursting through him. He lurched up into the air, only a green blur to my eyes now.

He had thrown a punch at Gaara, the sand just barely reacting in time. But the sand didn't have enough time to properly form a solid wall. His punch broke through, though it still wasn't enough to connect to Gaara himself. He was gone again in an instant, only to reappear with a kick, having the same affect. Gone again, reappearing again. He was all over the place, and Gaara couldn't react fast enough.

Gaara's eyes were wide with shock and as he tried to follow Lee's movements. Lee's attacks were getting close and closer to reaching Gaara.

Finally he managed to kick Gaara on the top of the head, forcing Gaara to almost bow to Lee from the kick. The attacks didn't stop there. After a few more close calls, Lee managed a solid punch against Gaara's cheek, sending the Shukaku host flying.

Gaara stood up slowly, sand slowly pooling out from his gourd.

"Uh-oh," I murmured.

"What do you mean uh-oh? Lee's kicking ass," Naruto said.

"Not really. He's only touched Gaara's sand armor," I said. At that, everyone's eyes snapped down to Gaara before snapping back up to me.

Gaara now stood, grinning crazily at Lee. A layer of sand now falling away from his skin.

"Sand covering his entire body, acting as a permanent shield against nearly all taijutsu attacks," I said. "Lee might have shocked him, but Gaara is virtually unharmed. Physically, at least."

Sand around Gaara moved to replace and reimburse Gaara's crumbling defense.

"That's too much," Chōji breathed. "First his sand defense… and now a sand shield? Does this guy have any weak points?"

"The sand shield is full of weak points," I said. At this everyone glanced up at me. "Since it's not done automatically, it consumes a massive amount of chakra. And its defense is inferior to the shield of sand. Since the sand is stuck right to his body, he uses up more strength," I explained.

"Still," Shikamaru muttered.

Lee gave a firm nod before he began to partially unwrap his bandages on his arms. Then he launched himself at Gaara, only to run quickly around him, becoming a sort of green blur of a circle around Gaara.

He then rushed out to Gaara, surpassing Gaara's sand defense with his speed and landing a solid kick against Gaara's chin. He then proceeded to beat Gaara into the air with his kicks, still out speeding the sand that followed slowly behind them.

Lee then grabbed Gaara from behind, position him so Gaara and Lee were facing head first to the floor before he began to spin rapidly. He released his secondary Lotus stage, slamming both him and Gaara into the ground with a tremendous amount of force.

Lee jumped back from the crater, where Gaara laid still. Cracks covered Gaara's entire body his eyes stared wide and unseeing above. He was in shock.

And then… the Gaara that Lee had thrown into the ground slowly cracked and shattered, revealing to be nothing more than a hollowed-out shell of Gaara.

"When did they switch out?" Gai said, his eyes wide.

Yay! More praises from Kakashi.

"When you were closing your eyes and praying. Lee cringed from the pain of using the Lotus, Gaara took that tiny opening. Oops, I mean Panda-kun," I said.

I glanced over at Kakashi who gave me a slight nod.

Yippee!

**Praise-whore.**

Gaara then reappeared behind Lee, smirking and laughing quietly. His eyes taken a crazed light to them. Gaara's sand rushed forward, overpowering Lee and sending the spandex Genin flying. Before Lee had time to react, Gaara began his brutal and vicious beat down with waves of sand.

Lee, suffering from the after effects of using the Lotus, could do nothing more but endurance through them.

Panda-kun looks like a rabid panda now.

**Let me guess, now you want to hug him even more?**

How'd you guess?

**But… you know… it's getting very close to **_**that**_** moment.**

I know.

**What are you going to do when that happens?**

I don't know. I don't really want to see Lee get hurt like… that… but what can I do?

**…That's true…**

I guess I'll show go along with whatever instinct I take when it happens.

**Guess so.**

After a while of getting beat down, Lee finally finished his flashbacks of his life before and the struggles he had faced as a student. He finally began dodging Gaara's attacks, determined once again to win.

"Let me guess," I said, glancing over at Gai. "The lotus blooms twice, yes?"

Gai's eyes widened briefly before he grinned at me. Kakashi glanced sharply at Gai and me.

"Primary Lotus… the Eight Gates, am I right?" I asked.

"You didn't, did you?" Kakashi asked, his voice coming out sharply. "There's a reason the Primary Lotus is a forbidden move. Tell me you didn't teach that to your _Genin_ student."

"I'm guessing he did," I chirped. "So, Gai-san… how many gates is Lee-san able to open?"

"Five," Gai said.

"What are you guys talking about?" Naruto asked, glancing between us. The others were also giving us curious looks.

"The Eight Gates is a preparation of taking the restraints or limiters off to use Primary Lotus," I said.

"You certainly seem well informed, Sakura-kun," Gai said, eying me.

"Sakura is a very shrewd child," Kakashi responded before I could.

** Shrewd or a complete Narutard. Either or…**

"Restraints?" Naruto asked.

"Yes," I said. "In the chakra network there are gates in each part of the body. From the top they are…"

"Open Gate, Energy Gate, Life Gate, Wound Gate, Forest Gate, View Gate, Insanity Gate and Death Gate," Kakashi finished for me.

I nodded my head. "Those are eight places in the body where chakra holes are concentrated at. These eight gates constantly control the chakra that flow in your body. But the Lotus unfastens those controls with force and grants the user more than ten times more power. That is its power source."

"Very good," Gai said, grinning.

I shrugged. "I've read about the gates and the lotus in some of my medical books."

Which is true… I just had earlier knowledge about them from being a Narutard…

"Secondary Lotus is a move that opens the first gate. It unfastens control from the brain and enables a person to use his muscles at their limit. Primary Lotus opens the second gate and increases one's strength forcefully, and after opening the third gate, the Primary Lotus is carried out," Gai said.

"Cool," Naruto said.

"But they come at risks of course. Secondary Lotus alone pushes the user's body to its limit. Opening anymore and you're pretty much effing up your own body," I said.

And that's about when the conversation had no need for explanation and Kakashi scolded Gai about how dangerous it was and whatnot. Gai scolded Kakashi saying he didn't know Lee and yada yada yada…

Lee unlocked his third gate, his skin turning to a stark red as chakra rushed through him. The force of the opening alone was enough to send a strong 'wind' to nearly knock me off my sitting spot.

**This is a long fight.**

It certainly seems like it.

Lee lunged forward, kicking Gaara into the air and cracking Gaara's sand shield. Lee kicked Gaara towards the ground before reappearing right behind him and kicking him back up in the air. It was an airborne game of Ping-Pong, a complete one-sided smack down on Lee's part.

Finally Lee unlocked the fifth gate and slammed his fist into Gaara's stomach, knocking him into the ground. And explosion of dust and debris forced me off the rail, my arms snapped up to cover my face.

Before I could crash into the wall or the ground, a warm arm wrapped around my shoulders, keeping me steady as I braced myself from the attack.

Damn, I knew it was a strong move but I didn't think I'd get knocked off my spot from it.

When the force passed away I blinked my eyes to see Kakashi had braced me.

"Thanks," I mumbled, dropping my arms away. He gave a slight nod, not even looking at me. His eyes were focused on Lee who was rolling away from Gaara.

Gaara rested in a crater, breathing heavily. Sand wrapped underneath him, providing him with a safe cushion.

My eyes widened in small shock as I realized what was going to happen next.

My stomach dropped and already I swung myself off from the balcony, lurching forward at Lee.

Gaara raised his hand shakily, forcing a wave of sand to rush towards Lee. Lee struggle to move, to crawl… to do anything to escape, but it was hopeless.

I was flying through the air when the sand rushed forward.

Before the sand could touch him, I slammed into Lee, knocking him away.

We rolled, the force of my kick off a little too strong. It forced us to slam against the wall. Well me, actually. Lee ended using me as a cushion. When I glanced down at my arms, Lee was unconscious.

The sand was still coming towards us.

Fuck. I didn't think this through.

**That's what you get for acting on instinct, praise-whore. **

"Lee's unconscious," I said, my voice ringing loudly through the large room. "The match is over, Gaara-san."

The sand still came to us. Only when Gai appeared between the sand and us, did it stop. Gaara cringed away.

"Why… Why did you help him?" Gaara asked, shaking slightly.

I sat up, moving Lee's body off mine and placing a hand over his forehead.

Gai gave Gaara a hardened look. Though Gaara's eyes locked with mine, he looked away when Gai spoke. "He's an important student I love."

Gaara appeared taken back. In the same instance, Hayate had moved as well, he was now kneeling before us. He nodded.

"The match is over, Gaara is the winner," Hayate said.

I stood up from Lee, running over to Gaara. I stopped before him, stretching out my hand. He stared at it, incomprehension on his face.

"Do you need help?" I asked.

Gaara didn't respond. He stood up, the sand reforming into his gourd and staggered away. I glanced behind me, seeing the medical unit coming in and Gai stood beside Lee. Lee was lifted onto the stretcher, Gai placed a hand on his shoulder.

Slowly I walked towards them, frowning slightly.

Gai dropped his hand away from Lee as they carried Lee out. I looked up at Gai and gave a sheepish grin. "Sorry… I kind of reacted on instinct. I didn't want Lee to get caught in Gaara's sand coffin…"

"I know," Gai said, looking over at me and smiling.

"You do?" I asked, bewildered.

Gai laughed loudly. "Of course I do."

"… You don't actually know, do you?"

Gai stopped laughing. "…How youthful of you to spot my youthful bluff."

"Indeed… Well… Gaara's sand coffin would have broken every bone in Lee's body had that sand so much as connected with Lee. And seeing how Lee was unable to escape… well…" I gave another sheepish grin.

Gai's eyes widened momentarily before taking a hardened light to them. "I see. Then I suppose I must thank you for your timely reaction. Kakashi, you have raised a fine student."

"She is a fine student indeed," Kakashi said.

I whirled around, my eyes wide. "When in the hell did you show up?"

"Right after you offered Gaara your hand," Kakashi said lazily. "I'm mainly here though because it's time for the next match and you two need to evacuate the area."

"Oh," I said dumbly. "Right. That might be a good idea."

I turned to leave but Gai's hand on my shoulder stopped me. I looked back at him. He gave me a flash grin. "I am in debt to you for saving my student. If there's anything you need, don't hesitate to ask."

"Oh," I said uncomfortably, shifting away from the energetic Jōnin. "Uh… I'm actually quite alright… Uh… how I get back to you on that?"

And by that I mean I'll probably never bring it up again and let it die.

"Understood!" Gai said grinning even bigger. I shifted away from him.

Shit, what did I get myself into?

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

The last match didn't hold my attention. I shamelessly admit I completely zoned out for the entire thing.

It was Chōji versus Dosu, and Dosu won. End of story.

Instead, what did hold my attention was Gaara. And for whatever reason, I held Gaara's attention through some of it. His eyes kept flickering back to me, morbid curiosity apparent in them.

Naturally having a psychotic panda looking at you like a scientist staring down through a microscope would make you a little uncomfortable.

So instead I found myself either meeting his gaze or trying to distract myself by talking with Naruto, Kakashi or Inner.

**Maybe he likes you.**

I'm not a Mary-Sue. This isn't a fanfiction. Gaara does not know or understand love at all in this point of the story. Though I am his fan girl and I'm sure some part of me is thrilled at the attention, I do not feel completely safe.

**… That's true. Maybe he'll sneak into your room at night and suffocate you with sand instead of Lee.**

… Shit you're giving me nightmares.

**Or maybe he'll wait outside for you and then kidnap you then bury you alive in sand.**

Stop. Bad Inner, bad.

**No, better yet he'll crush you in his sand tomb to compensate for interfering with Lee.**

STOP! So not helping! Oh shit I'm _so_ going to have nightmares tonight.

**And yet you're still his fan girl.**

Amazingly, yes.

**Are you a masochist?**

What? No, of course not. The prospect of my own pain does _not_ turn me on.

**How else do you explain your dedication to a crazed killer?**

He won't always be crazed. Besides, that's what fan girls are for. We stick through our idols even on their bad days… or bad months… I'm just staying faithful…

**That or you're just staying stupid.**

Ouch.

"That concludes the Third Exam's preliminary matches," Hayate said after Chōji was escorted out.

All of us (all of us meaning the winners) now headed down to the pretty much destroyed floor to stand before the proctors.

"To those who have made it to the main matches of the Chūnin Exam's Third Exam, congratulations," Hayate said.

"I will now begin to explain the Third Exam," The Hokage said. "Your main match fights will be shown in front of everyone. We wish for all of you to show off your abilities as your country's representative power. Therefore, the main matches will begin in one month."

"A month?" Naruto asked.

"The one month is a time to conduct appropriate preparations," The Hokage answered.

"What do you mean?" Neji asked.

"In other words, we are going to announce to the feudal lords and head ninja of individual countries that the preliminary matches have ended. And time is needed to gather those people for the main matches. This is also preparation time for you candidates."

"I still don't understand. Explain," Kankuro said.

"This time is used so you can know your enemy and yourself better. It is a time to analyze the information you have gathered during the preliminary matches. The battles we had were just like real combat situations. It has been done where both parties knew nothing of each other. But the main matches will not be like that. There are those who have revealed everything to their rivals."

At this I couldn't help but feel a small satisfaction. I didn't reveal anything in my fight.

**But you revealed quite a bit **_**outside**_** of the fight.**

… Shit.

"…To make things fair, work hard and improve yourselves on your own in the next month."

The Hokage cleared his throat. "So I want to let you guys go, but… There is something important we must do before the main matches. Take a piece from the box that Anko is holding."

Anko stepped forward, walking forward to each of us. One by one we reached inside of the box and pulled out a slip of paper. When everyone had one, she stepped back and Ibiki spoke.

"Everyone got one?" He said, his voice booming. "Now, tell me what number you got, st arting from the left."

"Nine." (Dosu)

"One." (Naruto)

"Ten." (Me)

"Seven." (Temari)

"Five." (Kankuro)

"Three." (Gaara)

"Eight." (Shikamaru)

"Two." (Neji)

"Six." (Shino)

(Which made Sasuke four)

"We will now match you up for the tournament.

Neji Vs. Naruto.

Gaara Vs. Sasuke.

Kankuro Vs. Shino.

Temari Vs. Shikamaru.

Dosu Vs. Me.

Looks like things were going exactly like the series. Damn, I was hoping for at least a _chance_ to become a Chūnin this time around.

While I sulked, the Hokage explained how exactly to become a Chūnin.

Finally, at long last, we were dismissed. I turned on my heel and sprinted out of there.

* * *

_Will Sakura ever become a Chūnin the first time around? Time will tell..._

_Up next comes a Pervy-Sage. :)_

_Reviews are love._

_See you Friday/Tuesday.  
_


	14. Setting Up Training

_Sorry, no snazzy hello from me today. Though my hellos aren't usually snazzy to begin with, now that I think about it... I'll have to work on that._

_**Disclaimer: **Naruto is Kishimoto's toy. I'm just playing with it._

_**Warning: **Language._

* * *

While as much as I wanted to rush straight to Hinata first, I knew she probably wouldn't be able receive any visitors yet. So to buy time I headed off to Ino's house.

Much to my surprise when I reached the Yamanaka house and knocked on the door… it was none other than Ino's dad, Inoichi.

I stared up at him in mild surprise before I smiled sheepishly. "Hey Inoichi-san."

He smiled back at me. "Hello Sakura-chan. If you're here, that must mean the Second Exams are over? I'm sorry but Ino hasn't arrived yet…"

"She's in the hospital," I explained. His eyes widened briefly so I hurried to finish. "She's just suffering from fatigue and a few scratches. She passed the Second Exam but we fought for the preliminary rounds and she lost. I'm here to pick up her book as well as some good food for her."

"I see," Inoichi said, nodding. He moved aside to let me in and I smiled back at him.

"So… Do you have the day off or something?" I asked, attempting to make conversation. Also, I was a little curious why the Konoha's top interrogator was here and not off… interrogating.

**He's not the **_**top**_** interrogator.**

But he's one of the best.

"Something like that," He muttered, a dark look passing briefly over his face before being a smile returned.

"Huh," I said, for lack of a better response. Before an awkward silence fell between us I turned tail and headed off to Ino's room. Once I safely secured her book from her nightstand I headed off into the kitchen.

Much to my surprise I didn't run into anyone else of the Yamanaka Clan as I raided their kitchen for Ino's favorite foods (Cherry tomatoes and pudding). Once I safely had a bundle of food in my arms I headed off to the hospital.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

When I reached the hospital I asked the ever so nice lady at the front desk about Hinata. She said Hinata was still being stabilized but could receive visitors in an hour. So I asked for Ino's room and she pointed me in the right direction.

Once I entered Ino's room, she looked up from her spot on the bed. She was sitting up, a few bandages wrapped around her. She grinned at me, then her grin widened when she saw the food.

I dumped the food in her lap and handed her the book.

"You're a life saver," Ino said, popping a tiny tomato in her mouth.

"I know I am," I said, grinning. "Alright, so here's what happened when you left…"

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

I left for Ino's room after a three hour long conversation of me explaining everything, and her jumping in and asking questions. Not to mention we both kept getting side tracked after like every other sentence, so it was an incredibly long explanation. A funny one, but a long one.

After I left Ino's I headed off to buy some flowers for Hinata—white lilies—then finally, I headed into Hinata's room.

Much to my displeasure, her father and a few elders were already in there.

He had looked up from his scowling at Hinata, the elders following his gaze to me.

"Uh… Hi?" I said. "I came to congratulate Hinata-chan and wish her well…"

"Congratulate?" Hiashi said, unable to keep the disdain and disbelief from his voice.

"Yeah. I mean, she went up against _Neji Hyūga_ who was a prodigy _and_ a year older than her and she nearly won. She was close too, it was an amazing fight," I said, glancing over at a blushing Hinata.

"I-It wasn't… th-that…" Hinata said, her voice taking a very soft tone.

I snorted. "Bullshit. You guys should have seen her, even though she was against all odds she still kicked his ass."

Hiashi pursed his lips. "I find that hard to believe. And who are you exactly?"

"One of her fans," I replied, quirking an eyebrow. "And you?"

"Fans?" One of the elders snorted.

"Mm-hmm," I murmured. "Anyway, you guys really should have seen the match. Actually, if I remember correctly, don't they have cameras in the preliminary room? I bet you could watch the whole fight. I'm sure they kept the footage."

Hiashi's eyes narrowed. "We shall see."

"And even if you couldn't," I continued. "I bet once Hinata's out of the hospital, you could pair her up against somebody else… why don't you try her sister? Hana… Hanabi, right?"

"S-Sakura-chan!" Hinata exclaimed, alarmed.

I shrugged. "I bet you could beat her now. In fact, I know you can."

"I… I don't…"

I raised an eyebrow at her then looked back to Hiashi. "Just a thought."

He didn't respond.

I shifted my balance to my right foot and glanced around the room. "Anyway… I can see I'm intruding on something so…"

I walked over to Hinata, placing the flowers in her lap. "I'll be back later Hinata-chan."

I then walked out the door, off to find some sort of sensei for the exams.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

When I walked out the hospital door, I found myself nearly running into Kakashi. I stared up at him in surprise. Wow, I'm getting a lot of surprises today.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei," I greeted.

"Yo," He said.

"So," I said, grinning. "About the exams…"

"I found Naruto a private tutor, but I haven't found you one…"

I held up my hand. He stopped. I gave him a sheepish smile. "I know you want to privately train Sasuke. I already have a sensei in mind but…" I cleared my throat. "But I was hoping you could help me with a small thing? Just to help get my training started?"

He was quiet for a moment before he asked, "What do you need help with?"

"I want to know my chakra nature," I said bluntly. "Also, I need to find some weights, like the ones Lee-san has."

"Is that all?" Kakashi asked, mildly surprised. "You don't want me to drag you off and teach you some new jutsu of sorts?"

"I'm not like Naruto in that fashion," I said with a roll of my eyes. "I know you want to teach Sasuke the Chidori and that's going to take quite a bit of time, you won't exactly have a lot of time to teach _me_ anything."

"How did you…?"

"Know?" I finished. "I just do. Anyway. When the exams are over I would love to kidnap you so I can learn some actual Ninjutsu depending on my chakra nature, but for now I can wait. _But_, I do not know where to get chakra paper to find out my chakra nature and I don't have a clue where to get the weights."

Kakashi's eye crinkled. "I see. I can get you the paper as for weights… Those are an old fashion training style, I'm not sure where I'd get them. But I'm sure Gai knows."

I deadpanned, "Can you ask him for me?"

"I suppose," Kakashi said. "… I'll have the weights by tomorrow, or at least know where to get them. We can go find your chakra nature now, if you want."

"Yes please," I said, beaming. "Lead the way, sensei!"

"Alright," Kakashi said, turning away.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Kakashi handed me a small slip of paper. We were outside the hospital now, I had walked with Kakashi back here after we had found the chakra paper. I didn't want to test my nature yet though, I wasn't sure why.

However, when we reached the hospital, I decided the stalling had to end.

"Do you know how it works?" Kakashi asked.

"Of course," I snorted, holding up the paper between my fingers.

He didn't respond. I rushed chakra between my fingers into the paper.

It crumpled away into dirt.

"Earth nature," Kakashi said, mildly surprised. "I would have pegged you for a water nature."

I shrugged. "I don't suppose you've copied any earth jutsus?"

"A few," Kakashi admitted.

"Teach them to me after the exam?" I asked.

"Alright. I'll find you tomorrow and hopefully have your weights. Are you sure you already have a sensei?" Kakashi asked.

"Well," I drawled. "I haven't asked him yet but I'm sure I'll be able to convince him. I'll be training with Naruto's second sensei anyway."

"Second sensei?" Kakashi asked, curiosity tinted in his voice.

"Yeah, he finds another sensei after the closet pervert," I explained. "Or… well. He… uh… _will_ at least… Oh… hey look… I have to go. Good luck with Duck-Ass!"

I turned tail and fled.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

It took me a good half hour to finally find Naruto and the pervy-sage.

I had jumped across the last rooftop when I spotted Naruto shouting at the Pervy-Sage as said sage stopped walking away.

"…Cooperate with my training, damn it!" Naruto shouted.

Jiraiya stopped, turning around to shout right back at Naruto. "Shut up! I don't like people who don't know the proper way to ask for a favor. And I don't like men."

That's when I made my big entrance.

"Naruto!" I shouted, jumping down from the roof of the nearest building to land next to Naruto. "There you are."

"S-Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed, his eyes wide as he gave me a sheepish grin. "What are you doing here? Did Kakashi-sensei ditch you for Teme too?"

"Nah, I ditched him and…" I trailed off, glancing over at Jiraiya before my eyes widened. "I know you!"

"Oh?" Jiraiya said, giving me a large grin. "A fan?"

"A big one," I admitted. I rushed forward to him. "Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Sakura."

"A pleasure, Sakura-chan," Jiraiya said, still grinning.

I glanced behind me at Naruto. "I'm sorry if Naruto has been bugging you. He's a little wound up from the Chūnin Exams."

"He's the one who interrupted my training, Sakura-chan, and now he won't help me!" Naruto shouted, huffing in the process.

I gave him a slight smile before turning back to Jiraiya. "Like I said… wound up. But he's a really great kid. And… I'm sorry to intrude, Jiraiya-san, but would you be so kind as to help train Naruto and me?"

"Hmm? So you do know my name, eh?" Jiraiya mused.

"Of course," I gave a mock look of appall. "How could I not know about the great Toad-Sage, Jiraiya? I'm a huge fan of yours and…"

**Tell him about his first book!**

Eh? You'd think that matter?

**No, but I bet he'll autograph yours.**

Oh shit! I forgot I even had it with me.

I reached rummaged through my small pack, pulling out an old, beaten up book. The title read, _The Tale of the Utterly Gusty Shinobi._

Oh yeah, die hard Narutard right here. I had totally forgotten about this book when I first came into this world, but it was actually a few days before the Zabuza Arc that Hinata reminded me about it. She didn't directly remind me, mind you, but she mentioned how gusty Naruto was during one of our training sessions and the rest just kind of triggered. It took me a good solid two weeks before I finally found a used copy.

It was actually… very good. The male protagonist goes through a rough childhood and has become set in his ways to promote peace and end the 'curse' known as war and conflict. It had an amazing plot, and a surprising ending.

Not to mention it was one of the few books I allowed myself to read that wasn't a medical book, so naturally I cherished it.

I held it out to him, grinning. His eyes widened briefly before he took it in his hands, looking over it.

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to autograph it?" I asked.

"…This certainly has been read a lot," Jiraiya mused, looking at its worn pages.

I gave a sheepish grin. "Sorry."

He rummaged through his own pack, pulling out a pen before flipping over to the first page and signing his name. He handed it back to me. I placed it back in my pack.

I glanced over at Naruto who was eying us curiously.

I cleared my throat. "Anyway… it would be a huge honor and help if you trained us, even if it was just one thing."

"You… I will train… Naruto, was it? You will have to convince me why I should train you," Jiraiya said turning away. "Sakura, I will send a message to you later today about where to meet me for training. Naruto… you have until the end of the day to convince me."

And with that Jiraiya lurched off from the ground, jumping onto the roof before quacking disappearing out of sight.

Naruto let out a frustrated sigh. "Damn it."

I laughed. "Good luck, Naruto. I'll expect to see you at training."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

It was later that evening that received the message from Jiraiya via frog.

The frog sat on my window seat in my bedroom.

"Are you Sakura?" The messenger frog asked.

I nodded my head. I moved from bed, placing my current medical book down, and headed to the frog. "Message from Jiraiya?"

"Yep," The frog croaked. "Meet him at the North River tomorrow morning, ten o'clock sharp for training. Also, he wants to tell you that the boy will also be joining in the session."

I smiled. "Alright. Thank you for delivering the message."

The frog nodded his head before disappearing in a poof.

Well, well, looks like I'll have a busy day tomorrow.

* * *

_And the training is set up... _

_Reviews are love._

_Before I go though... a quick question I found interesting. **Won't people become suspicious of Sakura from how much she knows?**_

_Well, like nearly all fanfiction I've read people somehow jump to some horrible conclusion that forces the Oc, or Sakura or whoever knows the future, into some dramatic and awful confrontation. I find this a little interesting. I'm **not** saying if this is or is not going to happen at all, but I would like to defend both sides of this. On one hand this is indeed a shinobi village and people are bound to be clever and suspcious, but also keep in mind-why would they seriously suspect Sakura? She's not overly strong-in fact she's gaining strength and experience at a normal rate for a Genin. She's not outrageously smart, but she's coming off as extremely clever. She's not outright stating she knows illegal or top-secret information. _

_In truth, it would appear she's simply displaying a gnack for gathering knowledge and above normal observation skills. Hardly out of the ordinary considering Sakura Haruno was supposed to be the top kunoichi of the class, and highest scoring kunoichi on the written portion. She's simply making conclusions most people would have if they knew the situation, or person, better. Even if she said she knew about Kurama-is it really that huge of a secret? Yes, yes, it's against the law but is it really so impossible for a Genin to draw the conclusion that Konoha has a jinchuuriki-when the rest of the major shinobi villages do? Or that the Kyuubi somehow dissapeared on Naruto's birthday _and_ that Naruto has an outrageous amount of chakra _and _he released said chakra already during the Zabuza arc? _

_But, like I said before I see both sides of this. Kakashi, Jiraiya, and many other Jounin (or higher) could very well become suspcious of Sakura and her knowledge. Or they could downplay it and dismiss what she says as her just being clever. Both sides are entirely possible. _

_**Thank you for inquiring this**. :) I just wanted to clear up any confusion in case some other reviewers are a little suspcious that she hasn't be caught yet (or ever). So, once again, thank you. I enjoy answering these questions._

_See you Tuesday. Sorry for the early update, I wasn't going to be able to update Friday or Thurs. so I figured I might as well update today. ;) Hope you don't mind._


	15. Training

_Tact is for people not witty enough to be sarcastic..._

_**Disclaimer: **Naruto is Kishimoto's toy. I'm just playing with it._

_**Warning: **Language_.

* * *

I woke up the next morning in an empty house at around eight. How did I wake up, you might ask?

To the sound of knocking on my front door.

Half-asleep, I stumbled out of my room, barely remembering to pull on a fluffy green robe as I made my way down the stairs, into the living room, across the front hall, to open the door.

And in it stood Kakashi, holding up weights.

"Yo," Kakashi said.

"G'morning," I mumbled, rubbing my eyes and yawning.

"Here are the weights you asked. I was actually able to find some without Gai, turns out there's a small store that sells them along with other old fashioned equipment," Kakashi said, holding them out to me.

I numbly took them, my brain still slow. "Thanks. Do you want to come in for some coffee or…?"

"Thanks for the offer but I need to head back to the hospital. Do you know how to put the weights on?" Kakashi asked.

I shook my head.

"Alright then, I suppose I could show you."

I turned, not bothering to see if he'd follow. I headed into the living room, finding the nearest seat—the couch—and sitting down.

I set the weights beside me.

"Now these weights are designed to adjust. You can adjust them with your chakra. Just add a bit more chakra into the weights, and they'll become heavier. They retain the chakra so it won't drain you or anything."

Kakashi lifted up one of the weights and wrapped it around my left calf.

"This is the lock for the weights, once you have the weights adjusted to be comfortable, make sure you send in a sharp amount of your chakra. It'll only unlock and lock with your chakra, these weights were made to recognize chakra signature," Kakashi finished explaining. "That's about it."

"How much?" I mumbled, yawning again.

"On the house for now," Kakashi hummed, turning away to leave.

"That so?" I mumbled.

Kakashi paused. "By the way… who is your teacher?"

"Same as Naruto… not closet pervert though… my sensei is my shisho."

"Oh?" Kakashi asked. "Well good luck to you."

"Indeed. Have fun with Duck-Ass, sensei."

He didn't reply, when I turned around, he was already gone. I yawned again and looked down at the weights. He had gotten a total of four, two for my wrists, and two for my legs.

I yawned one final time before I stood up from the couch, stretching. I had two hours to make breakfast and lunches, and to adjust my weights and get ready… mk…

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

I arrived at the river, noticing Jiraiya was already there. I moved slowly and sat next to the sage, who was sitting crisscross on a rock. He looked over at me and smiled. "Well, well, glad to see you showed up on time."

I gave a slight smile and set down the small bag I was carrying. "Thanks again for agreeing to train me, Shisho."

"Master, eh?" Jiraiya asked, grinning. "Not sure if I deserve that title yet, but I thank you nonetheless."

"S-Sorry I'm late," Naruto shouted as he rushed up behind us.

I glanced over at Jiraiya. "So what are we doing first, Shisho?"

"Walking on water. Naruto has already gotten started on it and…"

I glanced at the river before walking across it. Jiraiya raised an eyebrow. "And it seems you've already had that training."

"Hinata-chan required me to do it in our second chakra control exercise."

"Well, that just leaves you kiddo," Jiraiya said, glancing over at Naruto.

I walked back up on shore and sat next to Jiraiya. Naruto grinned and stepped forward, forming a quick handseal before he took his first step out into the water.

His first few steps were shaking until he entirely fell through and crashed into the water. Jiraiya watched him before he burst out laughing. I merely shook my head.

Naruto's head popped up on the surface and he cursed lightly before dragging himself out of the water. He grumbled before he began to strip down. "No point in wearing clothes here."

"Make sure you keep your boxers on at least, Naruto," I said lightly.

He glanced at me sharply before blushing brightly. "Y-Yeah, Sakura-chan."

Once he was completely out of his dry clothes—with the exception of his boxers—Jiraiya had stopped laughing.

"Naruto," He said, "Why don't you try molding some chakra for me?"

"Fine," Naruto grumbled, forming a handseal and beginning to concentrate.

I looked over at Naruto's belly, the moment the seal appeared, Jiraiya interrupted Naruto, causing Naruto to grumbled even more so about being distracted.

Jiraiya glanced at me. "Sakura, why don't you take a quick walk for us?"

"No use hiding it, I already know," I said simply.

Jiraiya's eyes widened before they hardened and narrowed. "Know what?"

I pointed to Naruto's belly as he concentrated. "I'm not an idiot. I know about his… guest. And before you ask, no one told me, I figured it for myself a _long_ time ago. I don't mind, after all I _am_ his mother."

Jiraiya deadpanned. "You're his what?"

"I've decided I'm going to adopt him," I said simply. "He's too adorable _not_ to adopt."

"But… You're just…"

"A kid?" I ventured. "Bah, so what. Anyway. I know about Naruto's guest and I truly and sincerely don't mind. However..."

I glanced at Naruto. "Naruto does not know that I know."

"Oh?" Jiraiya asked.

"He doesn't feel ready to tell me, and I don't want to push him," I said, shrugging. "Anyway, so there's no need for me to take a walk. You're going to mess with the seal to make it easier, right?"

"How did you—?"

"Know?" I interrupted. "I know things, a lot of things. For now, let's just leave it at that."

Jiraiya looked like he wanted to question more but he allowed the subject to drop. He'd figure out his answers later, he could be patient.

Jiraiya slowly stood up and walked over to Naruto, kneeling before him and placing a hand over the seal. I glanced away as Jiraiya lurched his hand forward, unsealing the seal Orochimaru had placed on Naruto during the Forest of Death.

Naruto went flying, only to land on his butt. "Why did you do that?"

"I just hit some points in your body that relax you," Jiraiya lied smoothly. "Try and walk on water again."

Naruto grumbled but stood up and headed out into the river. He walked across it perfectly. His face broke out into a splitting grin.

"Alright, come back here, Naruto," Jiraiya said. Naruto rushed back across the water, still grinning. "That's enough training today."

"Eh? But it just started," Naruto complained.

"I didn't expect you'd finish up this training so quickly," Jiraiya admitted. "So I don't have anything ready. But, come back here tomorrow, same time, and I'll have… something for you."

"Bah, what am I supposed to do all day now?" Naruto grumbled, folding his arms across his chest.

"Well, you and I could spar, Naruto," I suggested. "After we eat of course."

"Eat?" Naruto asked curiously.

I grinned, reaching into the bag and pulling out three bento boxes. "I know it'll be an early lunch but…"

"Yatta! Food!" Naruto cheered rushing over and grabbing a box. I offered one to Jiraiya. He accepted it with a grin.

"Shisho, if you want you could stay for the training," I offered. "But if you have other plans…"

"No, no, it's fine. I'll supervise your training," Jiraiya said, opening up his box and pulling out the chopsticks inside.

"Thank you Shisho," I hummed happily, opening my own box.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

After lunch, Naruto and I engaged in taijutsu sparring. I was incredibly slow due to my weights and as such Naruto pretty much beat the crap outta me for most of the afternoon. It was only towards the end of the day that I was able to hold my own against him. Granted, I couldn't beat him, but I could hold my own at least.

Sort of.

When the sun had begun to set, Jiraiya and Naruto headed off to the hot springs, and I headed home for a much needed bath for my muscles, and much desired sleep.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

The next morning I arrived at the river with a fresh batch of bentos, only to see Naruto already crouching down in front of a summoning scroll. They both looked up when they saw me.

"Good morning, Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Am I late?" I asked.

"Nah, nah, Pervy here just wanted me to show up a little earlier for 'extra' training," Naruto said with a roll of his eyes.

"Good morning, Sakura," Jiraiya said. "I was about to—"

"Contract Naruto with frogs?" I asked. "Do you have any other summoning scrolls? Not that I don't love frogs, I was just looking for a specific summon to go with my chakra nature."

Jiraiya looked mildly surprised at my interruption, but let it slide. "I don't have any other summonings with me, but I'm sure I could find the one you're looking for, or at least one suited for your nature."

"Chakra nature?" Naruto asked.

I smiled at him. "Don't worry about it, son."

"Mmk…"

I turned back to Jiraiya. "I have an earth nature and I'm training to be a medical nin. No, I do not want slugs, and I don't want to _just_ be a medical nin."

"Oh? So what summons did you have in mind?" Jiraiya asked.

"I was actually thinking about the… Giant Salamander like Hanzō had… er… has," I confessed. "That or dogs, or… Well, I'm not too sure. I'm not a summoning expert."

Jiraiya nodded his head. "Tell you what. I'll finish getting Naruto situated then I'll try and help you out."

I nodded my head and placed my bag down before sitting down on the ground myself.

After Naruto signed on to the frog contract and summoned a… tadpole… Jiraiya sighed and moved to sit down before me. Naruto huffed and muttered under his breath as he tried repeatedly to summon an actual frog—only ever getting a tadpole.

"So why do you want a salamander?" Jiraiya asked me.

I shrugged. "It was the only other summon that I knew of that went along with my fighting style. Not to mention it looks pretty badass."

"And why a dog?"

"They're very helpful," I said.

"So you only want a summoning that's helpful and goes along with your fighting style?" Jiraiya concluded.

"Pretty much."

"And what is your style?"

I paused. "I'm not too sure. Right now I've been focusing on taijutsu and medical training. I've even gotten weights… But I want to learn earth Ninjutsu. And a few wind Ninjutsu in case I need to fight anyone specializing in lightening…"

"If you're a medical nin wouldn't it make more sense to have a slug summon though?"

"They're too passive," I said with a shrug.

"Ah. Then I suppose dogs or salamanders would work best for you. Though, dogs are mainly used for tracking…" Jiraiya trailed off.

"I know," I hummed. "So… can you get a salamander summoning scroll?"

"Not before the Third Exams, I'm afraid," Jiraiya confessed, giving me a small grin. "But I could get it to you afterwards, most definitely. I have a friend who owes me a favor who could get the scroll. It'll take a bit before I can contact them though."

I beamed. "Thank you so much, Shisho."

"Now what to do for your training _now_ though…" Jiraiya trailed off, frowning slightly.

"Do you know any earth Ninjutsu?" I asked.

"Very few," Jiraiya replied. "But I think I can teach you one."

He stood up, brushing off his legs and I followed suit.

"In truth I have ever rarely used this," Jiraiya said. I rummaged my brain quickly to think of any earth releases that Jiraiya knew. The only earth style I remembered him using was Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld. But that was far to advance.

**Then again, pervy here probably had to learn some more basic earth techniques before moving onto something as big as that.**

True that.

"It's called Earth Flow Wave," Jiraiya said. "You create and ride a wave of earth that can branch off to attack from a distance. In time and with practice you can learn to manipulate the terrain and hold the opponent in place."

"Oh?" I asked, my interest piqued.

"The signs for this are Rat, Snake, then Tiger. You'll want to focus your chakra to the part of your body that's closest to the ground. In this case, that's your feet. Push your chakra into the ground and force it to manipulate to your will," Jiraiya instructed.

I pursed my lips, nodding my head. "Do I have to be touching the ground to manipulate it?"

"At first, yes. Also, it must be earth. You cannot do this with stone or concrete. Possibly sand, just depending on how comfortable you are with this jutsu."

"Alrighty," I said, moving my hands to form the seals. A rush of chakra flowed down to my feet and into the ground.

In my mind I pictured my chakra wrapping around the ground and forcing it up. Much to my displeasure, the ground didn't even shake.

"Try again," Jiraiya said. "It takes practice."

I sighed and nodded my head. "Yes, Shisho."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Three weeks have passed since then.

Ino and Hinata were released, both returning to their homes. Hiashi had taken my advice and watched the fight Hinata had made, as such Hinata had told me when she was fully recovered she would have to fight her sister, Hanabi. If she won, she would be recognized as heiress again, and her somewhat redeem herself inside the clan.

I knew it wouldn't be that simple of course. Even if Hinata, in title, regained her heiress status from her sister, she would still be considered a failure in the eyes of many. Simply because she lost to Neji who was a branch member, despite the odds. I thought it was a load of bullshit.

I had progressed steadily. I still had not mastered the move, but I could force a small wave of mud and rock to collide into the river, with me shakily standing on top. It would take more time to master, but it was better than nothing.

I had to raise my weights twice within the three weeks. After my training with Jiraiya I still followed a basic routine to test out the weights and stay in shape.

Naruto, had not progressed much. He could now summon a tadpole with legs and arms… but not yet a frog.

After his seventh failure of the day, Naruto finally asked Jiraiya for his infamous tip in summoning a frog. Jiraiya responded saying Naruto must put his life on the line to summon. When Naruto agreed to this tip, Jiraiya asked Naruto to follow him.

I stayed behind, telling them I would catch up to them later.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

About two hours later, Naruto came rushing back and asked for a hug.

I sighed, letting the earth unravel beneath my feet as I released the jutsu. I opened my arms and we hugged.

I glanced over his shoulder to see Jiraiya smirking at us. I rolled my eyes and stuck my tongue out. Jiraiya chuckled.

I pulled back and patted Naruto on the head. "Naruto, shouldn't you get back to training?"

"Ehehehe… right, right, sorry Sakura-chan."

"And next time, try hugging Hinata-chan. She loves hugs," I said, turning away from him and continuing on with the training.

"Really? Okay Sakura-chan."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

After he left, I sighed and followed behind him, being sure he didn't notice me. I knew Jiraiya knew I was there, but he didn't show it.

It was only after Jiraiya pushed Naruto off the cliff, exclaiming now that Naruto had lived his final day happily, he should go die now or actually summon a frog.

I presented myself from my hiding spot and followed after Jiraiya to see Naruto fall down into the dark chasm.

"You're forcing him to use Fluffy's chakra," I said, looking down.

"Fluffy?" Jiraiya asked, not moving and continuing to look down the chasm.

"Kyūbi. He's fluffy and he's also my other son."

"You're… you adopted the Kyūbi as well?"

"Yes. He deserves to be smothered in affection as well."

"… I… see."

"Do you really?"

"No, not really."

_"Where the hell am I?"_ Gamabunta thundered from below.

"So he summoned the frog boss," I said, looking down.

"Hey you stupid brat! Are you the one? Whose head do you think you're prancing around on?" Gamabunta's voice boomed. "I am the Frog Boss Gamabunta! You idiot, be quiet."

"I haven't breathed the air of the outside world in a long time. And there's a weird, noisy kid on my head. Oi, Jiraiya! Where are you Jiraiya? What's the meaning of this? Jiraiya, come out, you idiot."

I glanced up at Jiraiya. "Time for you to take your leave?"

"Very good, Sakura," Jiraiya said, turning around.

"Fine. But…" I jumped on Jiraiya's back, my arms wrapping around his neck and my legs swinging out. "You have to carry me."

"… Why does this not surprise me?" Jiraiya mused.

"Because as my Shisho, you understand that I simply cannot be argued with?" I suggested.

"… Alright. Let's go."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

After we watched Naruto ride Gamabunta pretty much the entire day, we headed our separate ways. Gamabunta had personally escorted Naruto to the hospital after he collapsed from exhaustion so I didn't need to worry about him. Instead I simply headed home, and prepared for bed.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Three days passed, Naruto was over fatigued so he slept straight through them all. I trained privately with Jiraiya during that time. However on the third day—the day before the final exams—Jiraiya recommended I relaxed that day.

So instead I visited Naruto in the hospital.

However, I was mildly surprised to find Shikamaru already there. I gave a slight nod in his direction before I pulled up a seat next to Naruto and began rereading Jiraiya's book.

Even when Naruto woke up and created a huge ruckus about sleeping for three days straight, I didn't even glance up until Naruto noticed me.

"Eh? Sakura-chan? What are you doing here?"

I looked up from my book, placing in a bookmark and setting it in my lap. "I came to visit you of course. Though, you just now noticed me."

He gave me a sheepish grin. I glanced at Shikamaru. "Which reminds me, mind if I steal an apple?"

"Help yourself."

I pulled out an apple of the basket Shikamaru had brought with him. Naruto grabbed an apple as well before he grinned hugely. "Oi, oi, let's eat these in front of Chōji."

"That's cruel; eating in front of a guy in the hospital because he ate too much… and now he can't have any food… shame on you," I mock scolded. "But I'm in."

"Sure, why not," Shikamaru smirked.

We all moved to head off to Chōji… however… along the way… We found Gaara sneaking into the room and attempting to kill Lee. Naturally Shikamaru had to trap Gaara in his shadow possession jutsu and naturally Naruto had to punch Gaara in the face.

I, however, moved to wait outside.

I heard the ruckus, knowing Gaara was making death threats and whatnot.

Finally when it was over, Gaara exited the room, hand gripping his head, only to run into me.

"Hello Gaara," I greeted.

His eyes trailed up to me and he stared at me. "You…"

I inwardly gulped. "Me…"

He swallowed roughly. "Why did you…?"

He gripped his head tightly and shook it, gritting his teeth as well. I took a hesitant step forward and stretched out a hand. "Do you want to talk elsewhere?"

Gaara didn't respond, instead he turned and walked in the other direction. Hopefully taking the correct hint, I followed after him. Neither of us spoke until Gaara had finally found an empty room. He slid into the empty hospital room and I followed after him, leaving the door open behind me.

"He… was not your teammate. Not… why did you help him?" Gaara asked. "Why did you help any of them?"

"Because they're my friends," I replied.

"Useless," Gaara hissed.

"Not useless, complicated," I responded.

**He looks pissed.**

Really? I thought he looked more half crazed than anything.

**That too.**

"If you want, I'll be your friend too," I offered, my voice coming out much more even than I felt.

Think if he attacks us there's a chance we could escape?

**With weights on? He attacks, you're screwed.**

Shit.

"Useless things…" Gaara muttered.

I smiled, despite the situation. "So you think now. Tell you what though… at the end of this exam, when everything is said and done, then you can tell me if they are useless."

He didn't respond.

"And because I have the oddest feeling you won't think such pessimistic thoughts, I'm going to go ahead and offer a deal," I said.

"A deal?" He muttered.

"Yep," I hummed. "If you still think friends are useless, I'll… I don't know… do whatever you want, I guess. If you don't however, you have to mail me every day for the next three years."

"Mail you?"

"Send me a letter," I clarified. "And I'll write one back to you every day."

He didn't answer, instead he dissolved into sand and slowly slid out of the room.

"I'll assume that's a yes!" I called after him. I then sighed.

**At least he didn't attack us.**

At least he didn't go all Shukaku on us…

**True that.**

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

The sun had set and night had risen. I guided Hinata through the streets of the Konoha, finally stopping before the Ichiraku Ramen Stand.

"S-Sakura-chan…. I don't… understand what are we doing here?" Hinata asked, glancing around curiously.

"I already told you, Hinata-chan, I need you to help keep company for my son," I explained with a roll of my eyes.

"But Sakura-chan, you don't have a son," Hinata said, her stutter not once appearing in her sentence.

"Yes I do. I just haven't fully told him he's my son, yet."

Naruto stepped out from the stand, appearing slightly down.

"Oi, Naruto," I said. He looked up, eyes wide as he stared at us. Hinata squeaked slightly.

"Sakura-chan, Hinata, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked, walking towards us.

"Naruto, I need you to show Hinata-chan around the festival," I said.

"S-Sak-Sakura-ch-chan!" Hinata exclaimed, her face bright red.

"Huh?" Naruto asked.

"Hinata's never been to the festival, so I need you to show her around," I said again, reaching forward and grabbing his hand.

I then guided his hand to grab hers. He took it hesitantly after staring up at Hinata.

"Hinata? Are you okay with this?" Naruto asked.

"I—I…"

I squeezed Hinata's other hand. She squeezed me back before gulping. "N-Naruto-kun, I would v-very much l-l-like it if you w-w-w-w-would d-do m-m-m-me the honors of e-escorting me."

Naruto eyed her for a moment before a splitting grin crossed his face. "Eh? Honored? Well if you insist."

"Have fun you two," I said, humming slightly.

"See you, Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed, waving goodbye to me as I headed away.

Hinata gave me a tiny wave and small, sincere smile. Though her face was still an incredibly bright red.

I chuckled at the adorable soon-to-be couple before I headed away, pushing chakra into my feet to launch myself into the air.

I landed on a building.

I looked back down at the two. Naruto was leading Hinata away, off to some stand.

I found myself giving a silent thanks to whoever was listening that Hinata had yet to faint on Naruto.

Hopefully he'll know… somewhat what to do when… if… that does occur.

Glancing around at the bustling street I felt a small sigh pass my lips.

**While they're off having fun we get to stay home studying.**

Joy oh joy.

**Whatever, at least when the exams are over we'll be able to have our summons.**

That's true. I'm looking forward to it.

** Of course you are.**

And with that positive thought in mind, I headed on home to catch some much appreciated sleep.

* * *

_Exams next chapter. How many of you want to see Sakura promoted first time around?_

_Reviews are love._

_See you Tuesday/Friday.  
_


	16. Finals

_"No offense, but you're insane."_

_"Why would I take offense? I've seen your sanity and frankly it bores me."_

**_Disclaimer: _**_Naruto is Kishimoto's toy. I'm just playing with it. Abridged isn't mine either._

**_Warning: _**_Language. Do I even need to repeat this anymore...?_

* * *

Finally the Third and final Exam began.

All of us—with the exception of Sasuke and Dosu—stood in the center of the arena for the exam. All around us people sat above us.

It reminded me of the Roman Colosseum, almost. And we were the unlucky gladiators. Or they were at least, I'm not too sure I'll get the chance to fight or not. Who knows.

Above us, the Hokage stood from his stone chair and presented himself to the audience. His voice echoed across the stone walls as he addressed everyone.

**Wow he looks so friggn' tiny from down here.**

I know. And these walls are _huge_. How long do you think it took to build this thing?

**Who knows. Who cares. **

When the Hokage finished, Genma pulled out his napkin—oops I mean paper—with the new match ups listed.

**Stop making parody references!**

_Never!_

Nothing changed much. The first match was still Naruto Vs. Neji, followed by Gaara Vs. Sasuke, then Kankuro Vs. Shino and finally Temari Vs. Shikamaru. The only difference was that I was off to the far right, after Shikamaru's fight.

Sweet, I actually do get to fight!

**Blood thirsty little thing, aren't you?**

"Listen up," Genma said. "Although the landscape is different, the same rules apply as in the preliminaries; there are no rules. The match will only end when someone dies or gives up. But if I decide that the match is over, I will stop the match. Do not argue with me over it. Got it?"

When none of us responded, he carried on. "The first match is Uzumaki Naruto and Hyūga Neji. The rest of you need to go back to the waiting room."

I gave Naruto a grin before I followed the others in retreating to the stairs.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

I sat on the hand rails, like I had for Lee's match. Shikamaru was beside me. Shino was a little behind me and the Sand Trio were on the farther end, probablyout of earshot. I looked over at him. "Looking forward to your match?"

"Of course not, it's too troublesome," Shikamaru drawled. He sighed. "Then if I win, I'll have to face you."

"Yep," I chuckled. "Or I'll have to face Temari. Or hell, something could happen and thus prevent me from fighting either of you two. Actually, that would kind of suck. I'd like to at least get a chance at becoming a Chūnin this time around."

"I suppose," Shikamaru said. "It'd be even more troublesome to go through this whole thing again."

I nodded, looking down at Naruto and Neji. "Looks like it's starting."

Naruto and Neji had finished telling the other they would win, and Genma finally started the match.

A stare down began between the two. Neji assumed in his fighting stance and Naruto glaring down at him with his hands to his sight, clenched tightly into fists.

Finally Naruto made the first move. He threw a few kunai at Neji—who deflected them with ease—and in the same process Naruto charged towards him. Naruto swung the first punch but Neji deflected it as well, forcing Naruto to tuck down. Naruto rolled with the deflection, swinging out his leg in an attempt to kick Neji. Neji dodged and Naruto disengaged from combat.

He rushed forward again, engaging Neji in a barrage of fists and kicks. Neji dodged or deflected all of them, while he himself finally landed a jab against Naruto's right shoulder. Naruto disengaged from battle, clutching his shoulder.

They exchanged a few words before Naruto made his shadow clones. The clones charged forward and Neji successfully evaded all of them before he finally defeated them. More words were exchanged and Naruto created what I would call a mini army of clones.

Neji quickly defeated a few before singling out a single Naruto and claimed it was the real one. He quickly jabbed said Naruto in the heart, and slowly all the other clones poofed away. The Naruto he jabbed, smirked at Neji before he poofed away as well.

The real Naruto and a new clone charged from behind at Neji. With no way to successfully dodge the attack Neji used his Eight-Trigram-Palm-Rotation… or Rotation for short. He created a sphere around himself—also creating a crater where he stood in the process—that successfully knocked both Narutos back. The clone went poof and the real Naruto was left grumbling under his breath.

Naruto created six more clones and surrounded Neji. When the Narutos charged, Neji used his rotation again and sent them all back. Neji then took his stance for his Gentle Fist attack. Neji then rushed forward, too quick for Naruto to react. He created a barrage of attacks, his palms moving too quickly to be properly distinguished. He successfully managed to block the majority of Naruto's chakra and sent Naruto reeling back.

Naruto crashed into the ground and laid unmoving. Genma approached him, preparing to announce the victor.

Neji spoke to Naruto and when he was done, Naruto forced himself back up.

"That guy…" Shikamaru muttered next to me.

"…Is my adorable son," I finished.

Shikamaru gave me an alarmed look before he shook his head. "Troublesome."

**Looks like Neji's giving his back story now.**

I looked down to see Neji had indeed presented his curse seal to Naruto.

So it would seem.

While they were talking below, I turned to Shikamaru. "Shikamaru-san?"

"Mm?" Shikamaru muttered, glancing over at me.

"What do you think of that Temari girl? As an opponent, of course," I asked.

"She's going to be tough," Shikamaru answered.

"That's true," I conceded. "But… oh never mind."

**The hell were trying to get him to say? You supporting ShikaTem or something?**

Nah. I was just hoping I could somehow get him to give me a few tips when I fight Temari. I have a general idea on how to fight her and whatnot, but I wouldn't mind a few more tips from the supposed genius of the Konoha.

**Not a bad idea, but I doubt he'd give you any. After all, he might think he could win.**

So? I'm asking for tips on Temari, not him.

**But if he gives away how much he knows, he's giving away his ability to analyze his opponents.**

Damn.

Meanwhile, Naruto and Neji had finished up their conversations. Naruto began to call upon the Nine-tails' chakra, forcing the red chakra to heal his wounds and reactivate his chakra pathways.

Red chakra swirled around him, giving the appearance of tails swishing back and force around him. Finally, the chakra wrapped itself around him like a red coat of fire. In a flash, Naruto was gone. He attacked from the air, throwing shuriken. Neji deflected them with his rotation.

Naruto charged towards Neji, smirking slightly. Before Neji could complete a full rotation, Naruto's fist connected with his. A huge explosion erupted from the two chakra collisions. When the smoke cleared, two craters were made.

Neji shakily pulled himself out of his own crater. He approached the second crater, peering down to see 'Naruto' lying in it.

He smirked.

The real Naruto erupted from the ground, connecting his fist with Neji's jaw and sending the Hyūga prodigy flying.

Neji could not bring himself to stand up, and thus Naruto won the match.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

After Neji was carried out and the cheering slowly died down, Naruto rejoined Shikamaru, Shino and me.

"Well done, Naruto!" I exclaimed once he returned.

"Ehehehe, thank you Sakura-chan," Naruto said, chuckling.

"Nicely done, Naruto," Shino murmured.

"Not too troublesome," Shikamaru amended.

Our heads snapped towards the arena when the demands of Sasuke and Gaara's match echoed around us.

Shikamaru grumbled, "Where is that guy?"

"Last minute training with Kakashi-sensei," I responded.

"Eh? Really?" Naruto asked, his eyes wide. "Teme… why did Kakashi-sensei privately train him anyway? What's so great about him?"

"Nothing," I consoled my son, patting him on the back. "But that kind of reminds me, how was your date with Hinata-chan?"

At the word date, Naruto's face went bright red. "E-Eh? Th-That was a date? Hina-chan didn't mention that."

I grinned mischievously. "Oh, so she's no longer just Hinata but _Hina-chan?_"

"I didn't know you and the Hyūga girl were dating," Shikamaru drawled.

"Sh-Shut up!" Naruto exclaimed, blushing.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Genma hollered. "An examinee for the next match has not arrived just yet. Therefore this match will be delayed and we will begin the next match first. Kankuro and Aburame Shino, come down."

"Examiner!" Kankuro shouted. "I forfeit. Go to the next match."

Genma sighed. "Kankuro has forfeited, therefore Aburame Shino wins by default."

The crowd immediately erupted into boos and hisses. Temari scoffed before she pulled out her giant ass fan and floated down.

Shikamaru sighed.

Naruto cheered. "Yahoo! Go get her, Shikamaru!"

Naruto patted Shikamaru roughly on the back whilst said Nara was leaning over the railing. This then caused Shikamaru to fall into the arena.

I choked back a laugh. I then shook my head and leaned forward.

If I wanted to win in my match against Temari, I had better watch and listen to this one very carefully.

"What? You're going to forfeit also?" Temari said, smirking.

Shikamaru sighed.

Naruto, being his hyperactive little self was bouncing from one foot to the other. "What's he doing? Oi! Shikamaru! Stop fooling around."

When Shikamaru didn't respond to either person, Temari scowled. "If you're not going to attack, I will!"

Ignoring Genma saying the match hasn't even started, Temari started to run forward. Shikamaru grumbled under his breath. "She seems really excited about this."

Temari lifted up her fan and brought it down where Shikamaru supposedly lay. A cloud of dust erupted around the hit and when it cleared, it was found Shikamaru was no longer there. Instead he was leaning parallel to the wall.

"I don't care if I can't become a Chūnin," Shikamaru said. "But a man can't lose that easily to a woman. I guess I'll fight."

Temari's scowl darkened. She opened up her fan and swung it, causing a massive burst of wind to charge towards Shikamaru. In the same process it picked up a lot of dirt, obscuring all view.

**She tends to render herself and the opponent blind often. Idiot.**

Don't dis Temari. She's like one of the best kunoichi's in this series.

**Whatever.**

Asshole.

**Praise-whore.**

When the dust cleared, Shikamaru was nowhere in sight (If I remember correctly he was actually just hiding behind a tree). Temari gazed around the clearing until she finally found him. She launched another attack with her fan, the wind become sharp like razors and mauling the tree.

Dust was picked up and out of the dust a lone shadow lurched out, rushing towards Temari. Temari back flipped away, finally the shadow reached just before her, it stopped. Temari smirked, drawing a line where the shadow ended as it snapped back to its user.

"Shadow Imitation… I've figured out its nature," Temari said, smirking. "Looks like there's a limit to how you can stretch, shrink and transform your shadow. No matter how much you transform or stretch your shadow… you can only stretch it as much as its surface area. Isn't that right?"

Shikamaru gave a dry grin. "Correct."

Shikamaru assumed his thinking position, showing off his IQ to be over 200…

After a while, he relaxed his stance, his eyes hardening.

"Looks like you're a bit more motivated to fight, now," Temari said. She released another razor sharp wind, forcing Shikamaru to retreat behind the tree. In the same motion he pulled out a kunai and took off his jacket. The dust picked up, momentarily obscuring all view. Once the wind died down, another shadow lurched out at Temari.

Temari smirked at first, thinking she was out of range, but the shadow passed the line, forcing her to jump back quickly. She scowled at him. "So you were wasting time, waiting for the sun to lower and increase the wall shadow's line to increase your shadow's surface area. Correct?"

A few tense seconds passed until Kankuro shouted out. "Temari, above you!"

Temari's eyes widened as her eyes snapped up.

Flying in the wind was Shikamaru's jacket, tied to the kunai, it hovered above Temari, providing Shikamaru's shadow with more surface area. Temari cursed, lurching back and away. She jumped away and away, as the shadow slowly forced her into Shikamaru's intended position.

Shikamaru's shadow retracted, only to reappear behind Temari, from the very same hole Naruto had dug earlier in his battle with Neji. The very same hole Temari stood in front of.

I smirked, chuckling lightly.

He forced Temari to walk forward, meeting her halfway. He stopped then raised his arm in the air, Temari mimicked his action.

"…I lose, I give up," Shikamaru said.

I burst out into laughter. The crowd erupted into confusion.

"What did you say?" Temari demanded.

"I used up too much chakra using the shadow imitation so many times. I can only hold you for an additional ten seconds. So I've thought about 200 possible moves but time's up. It's too troublesome to do more." He released his hold on her and shrugged.

Temari stared at him in shock, dropping her arm. Shikamaru continued, "One match is good enough for me."

"Winner, Temari," Genma said. He then cleared his throat. "We will now begin the next match in five minutes, unless you want to go right now, Temari."

Temari glanced at him then shook her head, smirking. "Fine. I'm game."

"My turn!" I cheered.

I jumped off my spot, spinning in the air to land into the arena. I grinned and waved at Temari. She smirked back in reply.

**Hmm. Do you have a plan?**

Actually… I do.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Once Shikamaru had left, Genma bowed his head and said, "Let the match begin."

Temari gripped her fan before swirling it around and smirking. "I'll end this quick."

"Don't get cocky," I warned her.

My hand dropped into my kunai pouch, in the same instance Temari raised her fan to attack. My hand gripped a kunai and a slim piece of paper around it, the paper latched onto the kunai. Temari swung her fan and a large mass of wind rushed towards me.

As was a cloud of dust, obscuring all view Temari would have on me.

I threw my kunai into the ground, my foot quickly digging it in before kicking dirt over it. The wind nearly reached me. My hands moved quickly in a flurry of movements, just as the razor wind hit me.

The ground shifted underneath my feet, as I concentrated my chakra into it. It rumbled slightly but nothing visible appeared above the surface. The wind carried on, threatening to break my concentration but only when I had finished, did I drop my hands, releasing the jutsu.

Finally the wind died down, cuts and scrapes marred across my body, I was bleeding, but the cuts were shallow.

I smirked at her before I pushed chakra into my feet and lurched up into the air.

The dust was still obscuring all view she had of me. Even when I launched out of the dust, her eyes stayed lock on where she thought I was. Fine by me.

My hands both went into my kunai pocket as I tied more paper to my kunai. One, two, three, four. Four were complete before the dust cleared and Temari looked around, alarmed.

I plummeted to the ground, on the opposite side of the arena. I pulled out two kunai—one in each hand—and twirled in the air, making sure I was falling hands first.

My kunai dug into the ground, the impact shocked and jarred my bones but the kunai quickly dug into the ground. I rolled with the fall though, my hands released the kunai—which were now buried to the hilt in the ground—and I somersaulted away.

I popped back up on my feet just as Temari located me. My hands flew to my arms.

I need to concentrate, a little help.

**You're doing fine.**

I inwardly grin, finding the thin line of concentration in my adrenaline rushed brain and forcing chakra into my hands.

My hands glowed green as I repaired the cuts on my arms.

Temari scowled, swinging her fan once again.

My hands dropped down from my arms as the wind picked up and the dust obscured all view. The flew into familiar hand signs and once again I felt the ground rumble beneath me. The two kunai I had buried were drawn further into the earth and now out of sight, moving on to their chosen destination.

The wind reopened my tender wounds, as well as causing a few more. I gritted my teeth at the pain and flash of annoyance.

I pushed chakra into my feet and kicked off from the ground, the second the wind died down. Mid-air, my hands flew to my legs, shakily.

My brows furrowed as I forced myself to concentrate. My hands glowed green and slowly my cuts healed.

I had only stopped the bleeding when I was forced to pull away from my legs and tuck in to land properly.

As the dust cleared, I had finished rolling and pulled out two more of my kuani before I jabbed them into the ground.

I barely had time to think when Temari had already found me and swung her fan.

My hands flew into the signs as the wind hit me.

Once again the ground moved underneath me, pulling the kunai in and off towards its destination. The cuts on my legs reopened and I cringed inwardly at the stinging sensation.

**You know, you would be a lot faster if you took off your weights.**

You know you'd be a lot easier to get along with if you shut the hell up.

**Screw you.**

The wind died down, only this time I didn't jump up into the air. Instead I focused on healing myself.

By the time the dust was gone, I had cut off all of my bleeding. But I wasn't fully healed, I only forced the placti to block off the flow of blood more quickly. It was a quick fix and a definite weak one. Temari was glancing around the arena, assuming I had taken off again.

It didn't take her long to notice where I was. Her eyes narrowed.

**It's all set up now.**

My hands lifted up into the beginnings of the same hand signs I had been doing this entire time. I smirked. "If you want to, you can give up now. It might advisable, actually."

My hands moved. Temari scoffed. "Don't worry about me, I'd be more concerned with you."

She swung her fan just as I completed my last hand signs.

The ground below me erupted and I was forced up. The wind she had created crashed against the ground I had forced up into a wave. A wave that I road proudly at the top.

Her eyes widened as I forced the wave to crash down near her. She jumped back, just barely making it out of range of the massive wave of earth that crashed into the ground.

Her eyes narrowed into slits as she gripped her fan.

My smirk widened. She now stood directly in the center of the arena.

**Success.**

I lurched back, away from where I stood. Pouring in as much chakra as I could. Before she could properly question why I had quickly headed away, my hand raised up in a familiar position.

Damn I was so ripping Deidara off. In an insane voice I said, "_Katsu!_"

The ground beneath Temari exploded in a deadly mass of fire, earth, and smoke.

**It was a genius plan—for you.**

Indeed.

**To tie explosive tags to a total of five kunai.**

To then bury said kunai into the ground, unnoticed at any given chance.

**Then to use the new move Jiraiya had shown us, only in reverse.**

Instead of creating a wave above the ground, I created a wave below the ground, pulling the kunai in and forcing them to the chosen destination.

**Which was the center of the arena.**

Temari could have easily caught on to this quickly though, had she seen the hand signs.

**But we only used the move when the dust covered us. Even if she had realized we were using hand signs in the first place, and she realized we were burying **_**something**_** in the ground, there was no way of telling what.**

She had no way of knowing we could move whatever it was wherever we wanted. She probably did catch on that we were burying something, but she figured so long as she stayed in the middle—away from the edges where we buried it…

**She wouldn't have any nasty surprises.**

Oh how wrong she was.

Temari's fan flew out of the smoke, landing a little ways from her. Temari herself finally appeared, still flying up into the sky.

Her legs and arms were badly burnt, and she was bleeding heavily.

This match was mine.

My hands flew into the Earth Flow Wave. The ground rumbled beneath me before a wave of earth pushed me up. I then kicked off the top, pushing chakra into my feet. I flew towards Temari.

Her eyes were closed in pain, but one eye cracked open just in time to see me coming towards her.

She tried to move, but I'm going to assume the burns were too much for her.

My arms wrapped around her waist and I grinned at her. Her eyes widened in shock.

We fell to the earth, but the wave I had created (that was quickly losing form) provided a soft slide of sort.

We came to a stop at the bottom of the slide, with me holding Temari in my arms and grinning at her. My hand fell away to her leg. It flickered green as I began repairing her burnt leg.

I looked up at Genma. "She can't move from her burns, I think it's safe to say this match is mine."

Genma glanced at Temari who gave a pained nod.

"Winner, Haruno Sakura," Genma said. The crowd erupted into cheers.

I looked down at Temari, through the corner of my eye I could see a medical team rushing towards us.

"If you want, I could finish healing your burns up by the other examinees," I offered.

Her eyes widened.

"That way you could stay for your brother's match and stuff," I explained. "If you want to that is."

"Y-Yes," Temari managed, her voice tight.

The medical team reached us and I waved them off. "It's okay. I can heal her, and she prefers it that way."

They glanced at her and she nodded. I looked over at Genma. "Could you grab her fan for us?"

Genma gave a curt nod then headed off to grab the fan.

By the time he returned, most of her leg was repaired. He offered out the fan and Temari shakily grabbed it with her least damaged arm. I stopped healing her to grab a better hold of her waist.

"This might hurt a bit but it'll be quick. I'm going to take us up to the stand for the examinees," I said, my hands flying into seals.

She nodded just as a wave of earth lifted us up and carried us to the stands. The top of it hovered above the rails and I gripped her, jumping off from the wave and landing in on the concrete flooring.

The wave quickly dissolved as I laid Temari down.

In a flash, Kankuro, Shino, Shikamaru and Naruto were surrounding us.

"Damn Sakura-chan! That was some match, I didn't really understand it at first but Shikamaru explained it," Naruto exclaimed, looking at Temari.

Kankuro was kneeling beside her, he looked up at me. I gave a small smile. "Don't worry, she'll be fine. I've treated worse."

He nodded as I went back to repairing the burns to Temari. It didn't take long, now that I could have my full concentration, to heal her arms and the top half of her legs. It was her calves and feet that took a bit more. They weren't pink and slightly fleshy, they bloody and fleshy.

Not surprising since they got the full brunt of the explosion, but still.

I sighed, looking behind me at the curious faces. Gaara was eyeing me and Temari. I raised an eyebrow at him but didn't say anything. I turned back to Temari.

"I'm going to have to take off what's left of your shoes," I explained. "It's going to hurt, really, really badly. I'll try my best to ease the pain, but no guarantees."

I looked back up at Kankuro. "Does she have any extra shoes?"

He stared at me for a moment before nodding. "We all have extra sets of attire in case… I'll go grab them."

He stood up roughly before exiting the room.

I looked back at Temari and smiled. She gave me a dry one in reply.

"Naruto," I said, "distract her. You too, Shino, Shikamaru."

"Heh? What do you mean, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

"She means start talking," Shikamaru muttered.

"Oh… uh… about what?"

"Anything," I replied, my hands inching closer to her shoes.

"Oh… uh… okay. So… Temari, right? Did you know…"

Naruto's ramblings faded into the background as I concentrated on peeling off the shoe. Temari tensed and trembled underneath me but I placed a glowing green hand over her own hand. I sent in a wave of numbing chakra.

I wasn't good at numbing chakra. I wasn't good enough I could use it in combat, in fact it was imply a new medical technique I had learned while training with Jiraiya. I couldn't completely numb the pain. I could dull it, but only so long as I was having direct skin to skin contact with the person.

Temari slowly stopped trembling, but she remained tense. Ever so slowly I managed to peel off what was left of her shoes. Just as I did, Kankuro returned and grimaced at the burns.

I ignored him, placing both my hands now over Temari's right foot.

I pictured melding the muscles and tissues, then layering them with skin. It wasn't a perfect heal, it was going to be sore and pink for a while, but it was enough. And that was all Temari really cared about.

When I was done, Kankuro wordlessly handed her the new shoes.

Before she could put them on, I grabbed her wrist. "Hold on."

She eyed me wearily. I gave a small smile. "Your feet are going to be a helluva lot sore, I can't fix that as it deals with the nervous system 'cause your body still thinks you're burnt even though you're not so it's kind of like ghost pains… Anyway, I'm not that skilled of a healer."

She nodded. "I see."

"And," I continued, "your skin around the bottom of your feet is going to be tender, blister easily. Nothing really I can do there either. I'd recommend finding better shoes that are more suited for tender feet, at least until they're fully repaired and strengthened."

"I understand," Temari said, giving a small smile in return. "Thank you for healing me."

I shrugged. "It was only fair seeing how I'm the one who caused it."

I held out my hand. She eyed it for a moment before she took it. "Anyway, I'm Sakura Haruno. Seeing how we haven't properly introduced ourselves…"

"Temari," She said with a small smirk.

I nodded my head. "Well, then."

Our hands fell away and we both stood up. Kankuro nodded his head and he and Temari walked away, back to Gaara. Gaara who was watching me with narrowed eyes.

"What?" I asked.

He didn't respond. I shrugged and turned back to Shikamaru, Shino and Naruto. I walked over to them before I pulled myself over the railing and sat on it.

"Nice plan," Shikamaru yawned. "I didn't see it coming until you had already placed your fourth kunai in the ground. I'm assuming you used the same earth jutsu, just underground?"

"Yep," I said.

"That's so cool, Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Thanks, son of mine," I hummed.

Naruto chuckled then stopped. "Wait, son?"

"So how much longer for Duck Ass?" I asked.

"Oh, right, while you were healing they said they'd give Teme ten more minutes after your match," Naruto explained.

"I see," I said, listening to the demanding crowd. Their cheers and demands for Sasuke were nearly deafening.

And then the moment I said that, guess who decided to show up?

**About damn friggn' time.**

Are you ever satisfied? At least they showed up.

_**At least they showed up.**_** Up your ass, praise-whore.**

Screw you!

In a swirl of leaves, there stood Sasuke and Kakashi in the center of the arena.

Naruto grinned widely as he leaned over the railing and exclaimed, "You were awfully late. I thought you weren't going to come 'cause you were too afraid to fight me."

Sasuke's eyes trailed up to us, he smirked at Naruto. "You won the first round?"

"Of course," Naruto replied.

"Don't get so excited, Dobe," Sasuke smirked.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Now only Gaara, Sasuke and Genma stood in the center of the arena. The match began.

Sand slowly raised out of Gaara's gourd while Gaara clutched his head and muttered under his breath. After a moment he cringed, and all the sand that had risen in the air fell to the dirt floor. I swung over the railing and turned my body away from the fight.

I hopped off my spot, my feet connecting to the concrete and slowly I walked away.

"Oi, Sakura-chan, where are you going?" Naruto asked, turning his head to look at me. At his question, the others glanced my way as well.

"Bathroom," I responded, smiling sheepishly.

"Troublesome, you're going to miss the match," Shikamaru muttered.

I paused. "Actually… Naruto, Shikamaru? Do you guys mind coming with me?"

Shikamaru and Naruto glanced over at me, curiosity in their eyes. Naruto frowned. "But then we'll miss Sasuke's match."

I turned to face them, smiling. "Don't worry. It won't take long."

Naruto and Shikamaru glanced at me before shrugging and turning to follow me.

Naruto and Shikamaru didn't see Gaara kill those two men before, so they haven't thought things through yet.

**And if they haven't thought things through they would be unprepared for the assault.**

Which would be a hassle.

Slowly I lead the two down the stairs to the arena. I stopped before two, sand covered bodies. Naruto and Shikamaru stopped before me staring at the bodies wide-eyed.

"Wh-Who…?" Naruto choked.

"Gaara," I said simply. "Right before he entered the match. Well. I'll leave you two to your own thoughts."

I turned and walked away.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

I didn't go far. I waited a little down the hallways, lost in my own musings while I waited for Shikamaru and Naruto to come to their own conclusions. It didn't take long, perhaps a few minutes before they both raced past me.

"Going somewhere?" I asked them.

They both stopped.

"We need to find Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said quickly. "Do you know where he is?"

"With Gai and Lee," I answered. "Follow me."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

By the time I had located Kakashi, Gaara had already created his sand dome, and Sasuke was about to use his Chidori.

While Naruto explained to Kakashi the situation, I leaned against the back wall and relaxed.

It was nearly time for the invasion.

I heard the sharp cracking of electricity followed shortly by the thud as the Chidori connected to the sand dome… straight to Gaara.

Then I heard the crazed scream of Gaara. "Blood! My blood!"

I pushed off from the wall and looked down at the arena just in time to see Sasuke lurch away from the Shukaku's arm. The Shukaku's arm slowly withdrew back into the sand dome through the hole Sasuke had created.

A loud roar echoed across the clearing with growls and snarls following it.

**Nearly time, get ready.**

Slowly the sand dome cracked and faded away to reveal a bleeding Gaara. Blood oozed out of his left shoulder while his hand clutched it. He was breathing heavily, though he was smiling all the while.

I raised both my hands up into the dispelling hand seal.

That was when white feathers slowly drifted down into my view. The genjutsu was officially taking place.

"Dispel," I muttered, pushing in chakra through my hands and pushing past the simple genjutsu, just like they had shown us in the academy.

The white feathers pulled away from me. In the far off distance, I heard an explosion. Finally the feathers stopped falling.

Kakashi and Gai were about to lurch off to the Hokage's rescue—as SPID has erected the barrier and successfully kidnapped the old man—when Kabuto, who was currently disguised as an ANBU member appeared before them.

"What are you doing here? The Hokage is in danger!" Gai demanded, as both he and Kakashi stopped moving to stare at the ANBU.

Kabuto did not reply, instead he made a hand sign. Four shinobi of the sound appeared next to him, two flanking him on each side.

"How annoying," Kakashi murmured.

"I didn't expect an enemy to be disguised as an ANBU member," Gai said.

More explosions sounded off in the distance.

"They have more people than we expected," Kakashi muttered, glancing over at Gai.

"We weren't prepared," Gai said. "On top of that, they have Hokage-sama."

Gai's eyes trailed over to where the Hokage and SPID—oh shit, he got rid of his disguise, so Orochimaru now—stood inside the barrier. He pointed it out to Kakashi.

It was then that the sound ninja attacked Kakashi and Gai.

I muttered under my breath as I slid over to Naruto. Now's the time to act, huh?

Just before I dispelled the genjutsu over Naruto, I caught Kakashi's eye. He noticed what I was doing and gave a nod. I mimicked the summoning hand seals and Kakashi nodded again, his visible eye crinkled.

He flipped away from battle to land next to me, crouching.

"You summon dogs right? Do you think you could summon a tracker for us… to go after Sasuke and Gaara?" I asked Kakashi quietly.

Kakashi nodded his head, his eye still crinkled. "Very good thinking, Sakura-chan."

He stabbed the tip of his finger with a kunai, drawing blood before he summoned the adorable form of Pakkun.

"Hey cute doggy," I said, grinning.

"I like you little girl," Pakkun said approvingly. "And as much as I would love to hear you say that again, we _do_ have a situation. But feel free to call me any other time."

"Fine, fine," I said, glancing over at Kakashi. "Wish us luck, sensei."

"You won't need it," Kakashi said simply, jumping back into the fray.

I looked back at Naruto. In a quiet voice I said, "Dispel."

Naruto yawned and stretched, slowly moving back into a sitting position. He rubbed his eye sleepily. "What's wrong, Sakura-chan?"

"I'll explain in a moment, just hang on," I said, moving over to kneel next to Shikamaru.

"Wake up you lazy boy," I muttered, smacking him on the cheek.

He winced and sat up abruptly, rubbing his now red cheek. "Che, I don't want to get involved. I'm not doing this."

That's when Naruto noticed all the sleeping bodies, and the loud explosions echoing around us. "What's… going on?"

My eyes widened when I caught a blur of movement rushing towards Naruto. "Naruto…!"

Before the hostile threat could touch Naruto, Gai appeared out of nowhere, slamming him through the wall.

Kakashi appeared before us, his stance tense and his back turned towards us. "I have a mission for you. Go after Sasuke, and once you meet up with him, stop Sasuke. Then await orders in a safe area."

He tilted his head, his eye catching mine. "Do not pursue Gaara."

I grumbled under my breath. "...Fine."

I made sure to cross my fingers behind my back.

"What happened to Sasuke?" Naruto asked, slightly wide-eyed.

"I'll explain as we go," I said grabbing his arm and pulling him towards the hole with me. "Let's go."

Then we jumped out of the hole in the wall, off to pursue Emo Boy, Doll Boy, Fan Girl and Panda-kun.

**Lovely.**

* * *

_Hmmm... a fight against a super bad-ass Shukaku. Sounds like fun._

**_Did Ibiki see the chibis?_**

_Yes he did. I'll write out scene for it in the next chapter. :)_

_Reviews are love._

_See you Tuesday/Friday._


	17. Reality Sucks

"I can resist everything except temptation." -Oscar Wilde

_**Disclaimer: **Naruto is Kishimoto's toy. I'm just playing with it._

_**Warning: **Language._

* * *

The three of us followed Pakkun as he lead us through the wide forest. After a while Pakkun ordered us to step back over our footsteps—to lose tail of our pursuers for a while before jumping up into the tree branches.

After a while, Shikamaru volunteered to stay behind to slow them down. Naruto, Pakkun and I left him behind to pursue Sasuke.

What seemed like an eternity, finally passed and we came into view of Sasuke, collapsed on a tree branch, and Gaara, half consumed by the Shukaku. The curse marks were drawn all over Sasuke's body, showing just how far he'd already pushed himself.

Naruto, of course, was faster than I. He pushed right past Pakkun and me and completely bitch-kicked Gaara away from Sasuke.

Gaara flew backwards, crashing through a branch before coming to a stop on the next one. Pakkun and I landed next to Sasuke and immediately I placed my hand over his forehead, sending in waves of chakra to measure out the damage.

Naruto stood with his back facing us, staring down at Gaara.

Sasuke struggled beneath my hand. "You… guys…"

I placed my other hand on his chest and pushed him down. In a firm voice I said, "Enough. You're suffering from chakra fatigue as well as bruised ribs and… Enough Duck-Ass, shut up, relax, and let me do my thing."

"S… Sakura-chan… Who is that?" Naruto asked, pointing towards the half transformed Gaara.

"It's Gaara-kun," I said.

Naruto's eyes widened in horror as he turned back to face Gaara.

**Stupid curse mark, friggin' making healing harder…**

"Oi, little girl," Pakkun said. My eyes lifted from Sasuke to the dog. "I'm not a combat-type, so don't blame me for not fighting."

"Wouldn't dream of it, cute doggy," I said, smiling slightly.

I heard the soft thump as Gaara launched himself off his tree branch.

_**Fuck!**_

I jumped up from my knees and placed myself between Sasuke and Gaara. My hands flew up into hands seals. Gaara was still rushing towards me and for a brief moment, our eyes locked. His widened in a flash of horror before turning into absolute hatred.

**What the hell are you doing? That's not going to work up here! There's no earth. You're not that good.**

There wasn't time to make an explosive tag, kunai wouldn't work… I have to try _something ._Even if I'm not that good.

Or that fast enough apparently. Gaara's deformed hand crashed against me, all at once I could feel my ribs cracking just from the sheer force of the blow. Time dropped to a slow crawl almost as I was pushed back.

My eyes widened and all of a sudden sharp, burning pain rushed from the back of my head all throughout the back of my body. I heard the sickening sound as my head snapped against a tree. My vision tripled before blurring, darkness closing in from the edges.

I fought to stay conscious.

"Get out of my way!" Gaara had shrieked.

I struggled to breathe, to do anything really. Gaara was squeezing the life out of me now, seeing how I was still awake.

For a brief moment I thought I was going to die.

No seriously, I _really_ thought I was going to die.

I tried to console myself that that shouldn't be possible. That Sakura _doesn't_ die, but at that moment my logic seemed so silly.

We've already established this wasn't just a show—so why did I still think of it as one?

Gaara's other hand flew up to clutch his forehead and he cringed. In the same motion, Naruto grabbed Sasuke and carried him to another branch. He turned to look back at me, worry filling his eyes.

"Sakura-chan!" He called out.

The darkness edged closer, I could only make shallow breaths and even then those burned my lungs.

I was going to die.

Gaara was still clutching his head, his mind off in another world. Distinctly, I could taste the warm copper feel of the blood in my mouth.

Slowly Gaara's hand fell away from his forehead.

"What's wrong?" He asked, his voice low and shaky. "I thought you were going to run. These two… What are they to you?"

I tried to find my voice to answer his question, though it wasn't directed at me. But I was unable to force any sound to come out.

"They're… my friends," Naruto exclaimed, glaring darkly at Gaara. "If you hurt them anymore… I'll kick your damn ass!"

**DAMN IT NARUTO! WHY'D YOU HAVE TO GO AND SAY THAT?**

As if to prove his point, Gaara squeezed even tighter on me. I gave a whispered scream, as I felt more ribs crack inside of me.

He stopped squeezing and I slumped in his grasp.

_I'm going to die. Holy shit I'm _actually _going to die._

"What's wrong?" He asked, tauntingly. "I thought you were going to kick my ass? Come on, then!"

Naruto's hands shook as he clenched them tightly into fists.

My vision was nearly clouded with darkness. I was losing consciousness, fast. Gaara needed to let go of me, and fast.

Naruto charged and Gaara retracted his arm from me… But not before leaving behind his special sand to keep me in his friggin' death grip.

His hold tightened around me once more.

I struggled so hard to stay conscious because the fear of what laid beyond that was overwhelming. I really thought the moment I slipped up, I was going to die.

This wasn't like the story. This wasn't even _a _story.

It took me long enough. It damn well took me long enough.

But was it perhaps, too late?

And then I slipped off into oblivion.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

When I came to, it was when I was halfway falling through the air. Before I could process the fact that Gaara's sand had released me—meaning the battle was over—or the fact that I was falling towards my (second) death, or that oh-shit-I'm-alive, Duck-Ass came to my rescue.

His arms quickly fell underneath me and he carried me over to a tree branch where he set me down. I was breathing heavily, and with each breath, burning pain raced through me.

Bleary eyed and still with a foggy mind, I stared at him. "DuckAssthatyou?" **(1)**

When I—stupidly—tried to sit up, pain momentarily rendered me blinded and immobilized.

"Idiot," Sasuke snapped, his hands firm on my shoulder and forcing me to lie back down.

"NarutoandGaara?" **(2)** I asked, all of it still coming out as one breath as anything more would have been too painful.

"I don't know, I'm going to go see though," Sasuke said.

I gave a strangled snort. "Liftmyhandandpl… placeitonmyribs… I'mthemedicnotyou… SoIshouldgoseethemfirst…" **(3)**

He gave me a mock glare, but did as I asked.

I licked my dry lips and then forced numbing chakra through my body. My ribs were broken, as were a few of my other bones. I couldn't heal broken bones, but damn it, I wanted to see Gaara off and shit. So I did the next best thing.

I numbed the pain to a dull burn.

"Carrymetothem," I demanded. **(4)**

Sasuke looked at me as if I was insane.

"Carrymetothem… orIwillrolloffthis… branchthemomentyouleave," I threatened. **(5)**

He stared at me then sighed. "You would too."

His arms slid underneath me.

Pakkun—who I just now noticed was beside me gave a sort of snort of surprise. "H-Hey…!"

We were gone before he could finish his sentence.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"You can stop now, Naruto," Sasuke said as he sat me down beside Naruto. Naruto looked up from where he laid, up at Sasuke.

I was shakily sitting up and looking over at Gaara.

"HeyGaara," I said. **(6)**

Gaara glanced over at me, his eyes wide in incomprehension. As if he couldn't believe I was there.

"S-Sakura-chan," Naruto muttered.

I glanced over at him and gave him a bloody smile. "Heysonofmine…" **(7)**

A wave of dizziness crashed over me and darkness began to creep at the edges of my vision. Shit, I didn't have long.

"Gaara," I said, my voice coming out louder than I intended.

He looked at me.

I smiled. "Don'tforgettowrite." **(8)**

I then promptly passed out.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Three days later, I was released from the hospital to attend a dark day in the Konoha.

I stood beside my teammates, by the Rookie Nine and Gai's team, all of us were clad in black. The skies above us were dark and rumbled with thunder. And in front of us stood the small memorial for the Third Hokage, along with every person who had died in the invasion.

I felt an emotion I had not expected.

Yet at the same time, I saw it coming the moment I finally fucking clued in.

I was guilty.

All these people, all these faces, which were staring back at me, were real. They were actual people who lived and breathed and dreamed, just like me. This wasn't a show anymore. This wasn't an anime that my friends and I would stay up late watching.

This was my new reality. And all these people were dead, and I knew it was going to happen.

I could have prevented it. If not, I should have at least tried, shouldn't I? The Hokage, he was a nice man, and all these people, they were nice people. Did I really have the right to say they should die, when I could have prevented it?

And what about Sasuke's mark? Could I have prevented that as well, had I told the others what I had known—what I still know?

Did Orochimaru kill all these people—or did I?

My hands clenched tightly to my side as my stomach churned.

I thought this was going to be fun. I knew people would die but I didn't think _people_ would die. How could I have been so calm, so nonchalant about this before? How could I have allowed myself to simply dismiss these peoples lives', simply because it was what happened in the first place?

_I'm despicable_, I thought vehemently. _All these people… I should have… I could have…_

**That's enough, idiot. Let's say you did warn everyone about this, would they have believed you?**

Maybe not but…

**But nothing.**

But _everything_. I could have at least tried, I shouldn't have just let it all slide. These are peoples' _lives_ were talking about.

**And how would you have warned them anyway? Just waltz right in and say, 'Oh shit! I know everything about everyone here. BTW, Oro-snake-fucker is coming to the Konoha and killing the Third, HA!**

_Shut up!_ There would have been a way. I could have a least dropped off a tip, anonymously.

**But you didn't.**

Exactly… I didn't.

**You didn't, and now you've learned your lesson.**

_A bit harshly, don't you think?_ I thought dryly.

**Would anything less have made an impact?**

I didn't answer that.

**Now you know that these are actual lives, now you know that you have the power to change everything. Now you understand that.**

But…

**So let the past die, and focus on the future. There's a lot more to come and you damn straight better start preparing for it. You can't just go announcing to the world what you know, you have to be careful about it. You have to be sly.**

Let the past die? How can I? How can just simply—

**Let it die. Today, and today only will you allow yourself to unfold in your guilt. Today and today only will wallow in your damn self-pity. Today and today only will you embrace your emotions. But tomorrow, all of that will be tucked away inside of your heart. It'll be imprinted on the back of your mind so you will never forget this moment.**

**But you will **_**not**_** let it consume you. Let it live today, and kill it tomorrow.**

I did not answer Inner, I didn't need to.

Instead, I raised my face to the storming sky, as the cold rain pelted against me.

I was grateful for the dark skies that shadowed the land and hid our faces. I was grateful for the cold, crisp air that seemed to sort of numbingly welcome me. But most of all, I was grateful for the rain.

Because now no one would notice the salty tears that slid down my face, with it.

* * *

**(1)** Duck-Ass, that you?

**(2)** Naruto and Gaara?

**(3)** Lift my hand and pl… place it on my ribs… I'm the medic, not you… so I should go see them first.

**(4)** Carry me to them.

**(5)** Carry me to them… or I will roll off this… branch the moment you leave.

**(6)** Hey Gaara.

**(7)** Hey son of mine.

**(8)** Don't forget to write.

* * *

_Oh shit it just got serious._

_Don't worry. The humor will return. In fact..._

* * *

Ibiki moved smoothly between the rows of desks, the sun slowly set down behind him and casted a warm glow in the classroom. He picked up an entirely blank page, his lips twisting into a sneer. _I'll be damned... I passed a student who didn't even write a single answer... Uzumaki Naruto, eh?_

With a small shake of his head he placed the test down and moved down a few more rows, before a peculilar test caught his attention.

Now Morino Ibiki was not normally one to react to anything. He especially wasn't one to outwardly display said reaction. So when he found a test covered in doodles with a greeting directed straight towards him, he only blinked.

He picked up the test, a small frown on his face.

Annoyance flared through him, along with a twinge of grim intrigue. Someone who called him out on his final question-who had the nerve to forgo honorifics and blantly show it as well? His eyes trailed up to the top of the paper.

_Haruno Sakura. Interesting. You don't normally see a lot of people with that kind of nerve..._

And with another glance at all the _cutesy_ _chibis_ he inwardly shuddered. _Or that kind of sadistic mind to draw people in such horrendous ways..._

* * *

_Reviews are love._

_See you Tuesday/Friday._

**_Edit: _**_Fixed spelling error, thank you for pointing it out. :)_


	18. Fluffy is Fluffy

_"Dogs have Ownders. Cats have Staff." - Anonymous_

_**Disclaimer: **Naruto is Kishimoto's toy. I'm just playing with it._

_**Warning: **Language_.

* * *

Two days have passed since the funeral, two days in which I had spent brooding to myself at night and training under Jiraiya in the day.

At the moment, I sat beside Jiraiya, leaning against the small stone 'wall' on top of a roof. I was staring up at the sky, watching lazily as the white fluffy clouds slowly drifted by.

Jiraiya was crouching next to me, looking off into the distance with his mini telescope. He was grinning lecherously and chuckling quietly to himself; whatever he was watching was no doubt perverted and disturbing.

But I didn't particularly mind. It was his nature and if he had been doing something anything different, I would have worried. True, I would have much rather liked to train, but my Shisho was tired of watching me use the same jutsu over and over again. Not that I blame him of course.

Besides, it was nice to relax in the warm sun in comfortable silence.

Jiraiya giggled.

Well, relatively silent at least.

"What a view!" Jiraiya practically chirped, his voice tinted with giddiness. "Nice, very nice! Konoha is so _nice!_ Most of them are so—"

"Shisho, company," I murmured as I watched with guarded curiosity as two very familiar advisors approached us.

Jiraiya flinched slightly, but before he could respond, the first advisor—Homaru—spoke first.

"You still do those foolish things?" Homaru asked, a disapproving tone in his voice.

Jiraiya didn't turn around, instead he scoffed. "I'm simply conducting research."

Ever so slowly, Jiraiya placed his scoping device down and turned slightly to face them, he gave them a very dry look. "What do the advisors want from me?"

"What do we want?" Homaru asked, his face and tone very somber. "You should already know without us telling you."

Jiraiya stood up, turning to face them. I stood up as well. While Jiraiya's face was a mask of vague annoyance and a dash of indifference, my face was completely blank.

After a moment, Jiraiya's voice broke out into a grin, though it held a mocking edge to it, as if he were teasing them. He probably was. "You don't have to look so serious. The talks with Suna went well, right?"

"Suna has publicly stated that Orochimaru set them up. Also, they have surrendered to the Kononha so that topic is no longer relevant," Homaru said.

"Konoha had no choice other than to accept their surrender in order for us to revive our power," Koharu said.

"But the Konoha's power has declined enormously. In this situation, we must prioritize preparations for the worse situations. We do not know when a neighboring country may do something radical. So until the village's power is restored, we have decided to gather the top people from each squad and assemble an emergency executive committee to deal with this problem."

"But first we need a trustworthy and strong leader," Koharu finished. "There are many problems right now. It's not just about Orochimaru."

Jiraiya gave a small sigh, still holding an air of informality. "You didn't have to waste your time reporting such things to me. So if you don't mind, I'd like to resume my research now."

Jiraiya turned around, about to ignore the advisors, when Homaru spoke. "Let me tell you the one basic thing we have all agreed on: We need a Fifth Hokage as soon as possible."

"And just yesterday, at the emergency meeting with the Country of Fire's feudal lord, you were chosen, Jiraiya," Koharu said.

"Unfortunately, I'm not very well suited for that," Jiraiya said after a pregnant pause.

"It has already been decided," Homaru stated.

"No it hasn't," I intercepted before Homaru could say anything more.

It was then that two elders decided to take note of me. They both gave me an indifferent look, but I got the distinct feeling they were sizing me up.

"Shisho is not the only Sannin," I said. "And besides, my Shisho has more pressing matters to attend to than sit around in an office all day signing papers."

"Pressing matters?" Koharu asked, unable to hide the underline tone of morbid curiosity.

"Matters that do not concern you," I said, my voice clipped. "As I was saying before, Tsunade-sama is still someone to consider."

"While Tsunade is certainly worth considering, we have no idea where she is," Homaru said, relenting slightly.

"We'll find her. You have no problem with that, right?" Jiraiya asked, smiling with a vague sense of triumph.

"But—"

"My student makes a valid point. Tsunade is definitely something worth considering and she is better suited for it than someone like me. So what is your decision?" Jiraiya asked, turning away from them and placing a foot over the small stone wall.

The elders exchanged a glance before Homaru spoke. "Very well, we will take that into consideration. However, I will make three ANBU members accompany you on your search for Tsunade."

"Don't worry, we won't run away," I said, trying my best not to sound like I was silently mocking them. "Besides, people watching over us will only be a bother."

"However," Jiraiya said. "there is one other person I would like to accompany us on this journey."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

After the elders left, Jiraiya slumped against the small wall with a sigh. I sat next to him, relaxing once again. A moment passed before Jiraiya turned his head to me.

"I love how you invited yourself on this trip," Jiraiya said, amusement tinting his voice.

"I thought it would only be natural to follow my Shisho, wherever he may go," I said, giving him a slight quirk of a smile.

"I see," Jiraiya murmured. He paused. "So what pressing matters am I attending? My research is very important of course, but I didn't think a little girl of your sorts would call it a _pressing matter_."

I glanced over at him. A slow smile curved at my lips. "I wasn't referring to your research, Shisho."

"Then what were you referring to, Sakura?"

"The Akatsuki, of course, Shisho," I said, my smile curling into an almost smirk.

He tensed, staring at me with narrowed eyes. "And how did you—"

I held a finger to my lips, motioning for silence. "I told you, I know a lot of things, Shisho. A lot of nasty little secrets."

I then mimicked zipping my lips shut and throwing away the key.

"And I know better than to give them all away _too_ quickly."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Jiraiya left to go gather our third party member while I packed supplies. We were supposed to meet at the front gate at noon.

It was five minutes until noon and I stood at the front gate, waiting for my Shisho and my son.

After another minute passed, I saw two very familiar figures. Jiraiya with Naruto trailing behind him, both were heading my way. When Naruto saw me his face lit up and he began to wave his arm frantically. "Oi, Sakura-chan!"

I gave an amused smile and waved back.

When they reached me I ruffled Naruto's hair. Naruto gave a sheepish grin.

"Sakura-chan, Pervy-Sage said someone else was accompanying us but I didn't think it would be you," Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head.

"I'm sure he didn't either," I said cheerfully. I glanced at Jiraiya. "We ready to go, Shisho?"

"I suppose we are," Jiraiya said. "Alright kiddies, let's go."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

It was a nice walk. Ahead of me, Jiraiya and Naruto talked. Well, Naruto did most of the talking, begging to be told what super new move Jiraiya was going to teach him. All the while Jiraiya attempted to ignore him but failed in the end.

I stayed behind them, content to let their ramblings drift off into inconsistent murmurs in the back of my mind. And they seemed content to let me run off into my day dreams while I traveled behind them silently.

It was midafternoon when we arrived at the next town. After a bit of walking around, Jiraiya stopped inside a hotel, speaking briefly with the manager.

Naruto and I waited outside for him.

"Sakura, Naruto," Jiraiya said once he finished his conversation.

We glanced over at him.

"We're going to stay here today," Jiraiya said.

"What? But I can still walk," Naruto exclaimed.

"Naruto," I lightly scolded him. "A student must follow his teacher's orders."

"But Sakura-chan," Naruto grumbled. "It's not even late."

"Don't worry about it," I said, guiding Naruto inside. "If Shisho wants to stop, then we stop."

Naruto sighed.

It was then that a very beautiful lady stepped behind us, stopping and glancing over in Jiraiya's direction. She gave him a flirtatious smile. I tried my best not to gag at how obviously she screamed 'TRAP!'

Jiraiya gave an excited squeal. Oops, I meant a very manly squeal.

**… Can squeals ever be manly?**

He then grabbed my arm and dropped the room keys. "Sakura-chan, here are the keys, make sure Naruto behaves. Stay in the room, okay you two, have fun!"

"Shisho," I said sternly. "Be careful, something smells fishy here."

"Don't you worry about me!" Jiraiya said with a lecherous grin as he gazed at the woman.

I sighed, before I grabbed Naruto and dragged him up to our room. Naruto grumbled and muttered the entire way, cursing Jiraiya a thousand times over for ditching us and whatnot. I ignored the majority of his ramblings.

Finally I found our room, unlocked the door and pulled Naruto in. I surveyed the room. Standard hotel room, two twin beds, single window, one nightstand, etc.

I released my hold on Naruto before I plopped on one of the beds. Naruto plopped on the other one.

Naruto huffed and folded his arms over his chest. I glanced at the door, suddenly feeling very nervous.

I hopped off my bed and opened the window, trying hard not to make a single sound. Naruto gave me a curious look but didn't comment on it. I leaned out the window and breathed deeply, trying to calm my jittery nerves.

**Why the hell are you so nervous?**

Because… I'm going to meet… _him!_

**Damn it, quit going all fan girl. So what if you meet _him_?**

So what? _So what?_ How dare you insult His Epicness in such a demeaning manner! I'm ashamed to be associated with you.

**Psh, whatever. You'd be dead without me, ungrateful praise-whore.**

Well you—

There was a knock on the door.

"Oi, Naruto," I said a little loudly. "Do you mind answering the door?"

"Eh? Okay Sakura-chan," Naruto said, slowly getting off his bed. He padded softly towards the door.

I turned around from my window, bunching up chakra at the bottom of my feet.

Naruto opened the door. I lurched away from the window, letting out a mock warrior cry.

"Suck boot, Weasel!"

Naturally Itachi Uchiha who stood at the door, merely side stepped, allowing me fly right past him and have my foot connect with the wall. I flipped off it, landing lightly on my feet.

I glanced down at Itachi before I dipped my head. "I will take it you aren't in the mood to suck boot. Fine, be the way."

Itachi stared at me, not commenting.

I cleared my throat before I glanced at Naruto. He stared at me as if I was insane. I probably was.

I looked back at Itachi, and then… and then…

I looked at Kisame.

I let out a squeal before thrusting my hand out to him. "Hi! I am _such_ a huge fan of yours, Kisame-sama! You're my—"

**Idiot! Don't say 'You're my favorite Mist-Nin character/Swordsman character'. He's not a character here.**

"—_idol._ I'm so jealous on how great of a swordsman you've become," I finished, smiling at him adoringly.

Kisame stared at me with a mix of mild shock and curiosity.

That's when our beautiful first meeting was ruined by a very stupid boy.

"It's been a long time…" Itachi said, drawing all our attention towards him, and to see who stood behind him. "…Sasuke."

I scowled at Sasuke.

"Damn it Duck-Ass!" I roared. "You ruined my very first moment with _The _Kisame Hoshigaki! After this, I am _so_ going to kill you."

Everyone gave me a very unique look. Sasuke tore his gaze away from Itachi before he stared at me and snapped, "Damn it Sakura, you've become a fan girl of him now? First Gaara now _him?_"

"I've always been a Kisame fan," I sniffed. "I only recently became a slight fan girl of Gaara."

Sasuke shook his head at me. Kisame eyed Sasuke with a predators curiosity. "Hmm? Itachi, he has a Sharingan and he is very similar to you. Just who is he?"

"He's Sasuke Uchiha, Itachi's little brother, Kisame-sama," I quipped, quickly drawing Kisame's attention away from Duck-Ass and back to me.

"But I thought that Itachi, you had killed your entire clan," Kisame commented.

"He spared his brother," I answered.

"Like you said," Sasuke said suddenly, drawing everyone's attention back to him. "All those years ago, I hated you, detested you…" He began to build up his Chidori. "And just to kill you, I've survived. I'm going to kill you!"

Sasuke charged.

"No! Damn it Duck-Ass don't hurt Kisame-sama," I shouted, rushing out in front of Kisame and holding out my arms.

Naruto gave me a _very_ unique look.

Just before Sasuke's Chidori connected, Itachi grabbed his arm and quickly the jutsu faded. I breathed out a sigh of relief before turning back to Kisame and smiling brightly.

"So, while those two get reacquainted, do you mind if I shake your hand?"

"What?" Kisame asked.

"Sakura-chan… what…?" Naruto asked. I had a funny feeling he was going into shock.

"Please?" I asked.

Kisame continued to stare at me. I sighed in defeat. "Fine… then can I hug you?"

"… Who are you anyway?" Kisame asked instead.

I stared at him before blushing brightly.

**Smooth. No wonder he thinks you're insane, you're a friggin' stranger asking for a hug.**

"A-Ah… Sakura. Sakura Haruno," I mumbled, giving him a sheepish grin.

Kisame dipped his head ever so slightly.

I gave a slight inward squeal at him. Outwardly though, I sighed. Sasuke had now crumpled to the floor.

"Kisame-sama," I said, my tone very somber all of a sudden.

"Mn?"

I looked at him straight in the eye. "Next time I see you, I _will_ hug you."

"…What?"

I then ducked behind him, grabbed Sasuke and hefted him on my back. I then dipped my head towards Itachi then Kisame. "It has been a pleasure, but I'm afraid you two will be leaving soon."

Before either could question why, there was a loud puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared, a frog stood in front of Naruto and Jiraiya—with the beautiful woman from before draped over his shoulder—stood behind Naruto.

"You two… don't know me very well. Jiraiya the man… is better at winning a girl than at being seduced by one. I wouldn't let a woman seduce me with her beauty. When you become great like me, women will go crazy over your own beauty," Jiraiya said, grinning.

Naruto turned around, Akatsuki forgotten and wasted no time in pointing an accusing finger at Jiraiya. "Yeah, right! You were excited over a simple wink from that woman! You shouldn't be showing off like that right now, Pervy-Sage!"

Jiraiya gave Naruto a sheepish smile, rubbing the back of his head with his free hand. "Come on now, don't call me that in front of people."

"Shut up!" Naruto yelled. "More importantly these guys here are…!"

Itachi remained impassive at the sight while Kisame chuckled. Kisame smirked. "The great Jiraiya, who was praised as one of the legendary Sannin… my, my. Even if you are an extreme lover of women, I knew that we couldn't hold you off that easily. It seems like you have dispelled the genjutsu from that woman."

Jiraiya moved to set the woman down and I snuck a glance at Kisame.

Damn it he looks so friggin' cool!

**Quit fangirling over him!**

_Never!_

"You're a disgrace to all men, using your eyes to hypnotize a woman to separate me from my students," Jiraiya muttered. "So it would seem, however, that you are indeed after Naruto."

On my back, Sasuke gave a grunt of surprise. I peeked over my shoulder to look at him. He was glaring intensely at Itachi.

Itachi was silent for a moment before he spoke. But while he spoke it was more of a musings to himself rather than addressing towards Jiraiya and us. "No wonder Kakashi-san knew. I see now. You were the source. It is an urgent order by our organization, Akatsuki, to take Naruto-kun with us."

Jiraiya glared at them. "I can't hand Naruto over to you."

"We'll see about that," Itachi said softly.

Jiraiya scoffed. "Very well, I will get rid of you two here."

"Don't interfere," Sasuke rasped from behind me. Slowly he pushed himself off my back, no longer needing my help to support him, as he shakily stood up.

"Idiot," I muttered.

"…The one who's going to kill him is me."

"That's enough Duck-Ass," I said, frowning. "You won't win this match."

"Shut up, Sakura," He snapped.

I bristled. Itachi continued to eye Sasuke indifferently. "I have no interest in you right now."

Sasuke glowered, clenching his fists. His voice was venomous. "Shut up."

He charged towards Itachi, raising his right fist in preparations of a punch. Before Sasuke could land the hit however, Itachi swung his leg effortlessly in a powerful kick that sent Sasuke flying down the hall and crashing into a wall.

Sasuke slumped to the floor.

"Sasuke!" Naruto called out in a worried tone.

I swore under my breath and began to walk towards him. Sasuke looked up and scowled at me. "I told you not interfere."

"Duck-Ass you should know by now I do what I want, when I want," I snapped and continued to walk towards him.

He forced himself to stand up, still shaking. "Sakura… don't. I've lived up until now… for this moment… For this day."

I stopped walking as Sasuke raised his head and met my gaze with his Sharingan blazing furiously.

I sighed and shook my head. "Fine."

I then promptly walked back over to Kisame.

I smiled at him.

Kisame gave me an amused smirk.

"'Sup?" I asked.

"You seem very calm when your teammate is in trouble."

"Itachi won't kill him," I said.

Behind us, Sasuke charged letting out a furious battle cry.

"Why would you say that?" Kisame asked.

I tilted my head. "Itachi left Sasuke alive for a reason, I doubt that reason would be to kill him now."

Kisame's smirk widened. "Smart kid."

I beamed at his praise.

**Praise-whore.**

Oh _hell_ yeah.

When Sasuke was knocked aside again, Itachi walked towards his slumped form. Jiraiya's eyes widened and he took a step towards them.

Kisame moved to stand between Jiraiya and I.

"Let's not interfere," Kisame said while smirking at Jiraiya.

I peeked around Kisame and glanced at Jiraiya. He caught my gaze and his eyes flickered towards Sasuke and Itachi.

I frowned and mouthed: _But he doesn't want me interfering._

Jiraiya glared at me.

I sighed in frustration and mouthed again: _But I don't wanna leave Kisame-sama!_

His glare intensified.

I pouted.

Suddenly his glare vanished and he smirked. I stared at the smirk with weary confusion. Jiraiya then pulled out a scroll from behind him, on it read 'SUMMONING – SALAMANDERS'

Oh.

**He's bribing us with our summoning to save Sasuke.**

Sneaky little…

**Clever.**

But I don't wanna leave Kiasme…!

**You'll see him again you damn fan girl.**

I continued to pout and stuck my tongue out at Jiraiya before I nodded my head. He smiled, looking quite pleased with himself.

I turned around, just in time to see Itachi had Sasuke pinned to the wall. I charged forward, rushing towards Itachi. I pushed chakra into my feet as I leapt into the air and prepared to kick him.

Not before Sasuke let out a bloodcurdling scream—the sign he had already been caught in Itachi's genjutsu.

My leg swung out to hit Itachi in the head but he was gone before it had a chance to connect. Instead my leg swung out in open air before I felt a chilling presence behind me.

A hard force slammed into my ribs on my left side and I was sent hurtling down the next hall before my right side connected to the wall. Sharp pain raced up and down my left arm and I let out an oath.

My head snapped back towards Sasuke. Itachi stood in front of him, but he was facing me and slowly lowering down his leg. Sasuke was slumped against the wall, seeming to be unconscious. Itachi stared at me with impassive eyes.

I stuck my tongue out at him.

He slowly began to walk towards me.

"You bastard," Naruto growled, his voice booming across the hallway. "Just leave them alone."

He charged around Kisame, rushing towards Itachi. Kisame frowned at Naruto before he began to follow after my adorable son. Jiraiya saw his chance and began to form handseals.

Slimy, pink and muscly tissue began to grow on the walls around us. In no time at all, the entire hallway was covered in Jiraiya's famed Frog Mouth Trap jutsu.

I stood up and winced at the sharp pain in my ribs. Damn, I think Itachi broke a rib. Not cool weasel boy, not cool.

The tissue sucked Sasuke halfway through the wall while also attempting to suck in Kisame and Itachi.

"You're out of luck, Itachi, Kisame," Jiraiya said confidently. "You're inside my stomach now. I summoned the esophagus of a gigantic frog from the Myouboku Mountain's rock inn. You two are wanted criminals anyway I'll turn you two into food for this rock frog."

"Gah! Don't hurt Kisame-sama!" I called out then wincing again at my ribs.

Jiraiya sighed. "Sakura… control your fan girl side. There are more important things in life than idolism."

"Bullshit!" I called.

Jiraiya shook his head. "Naruto, Sakura, stand still. And don't worry, this is my technique."

Itachi eyed Jiraiya without passion before he turned to Kisame. "Kisame, come."

Kisame sneered at Jiraiya before turning and heading towards Itachi, dragging Samehada behind him. Jiraiya smirked. "It's useless, no one was ever escape this jutsu."

Itachi and Kisame dashed past me and began running away. The tissue on the surrounding walls began to bubble and form a small wave and chase after them. I sighed as I watched them go before I called out. "Don't forget Kisame-sama! I'll hug you next time so try not to kill me too quickly!"

They reached the end of the hallway and Itachi used his Amaterasu—not that Jiraiya or Naruto could see it of course—and they escaped.

Jiraiya's eyes widened the moment the hole was made and he rushed towards me. Once he reached around the corner he stared in shock at the gaping hole surrounded in black flames.

Naruto stared in confusion at the fire and walked towards it.

"What is this fire?... It's black." He leaned forward.

"Don't touch it!" I shouted.

Naruto froze and jerked away from it.

"That's Itachi's special technique," I scolded Naruto. "You touch that fire and you die, understand?"

Naruto gulped.

Jiraiya stared at me, his eyes narrowing. "What technique?"

I looked up at him and pursed my lips. "Information for information, Shisho."

He stared at me and sighed. "What do you want?"

"To learn a new jutsu, of course."

"Fine. I'll teach you another jutsu. Now explain."

"Amaterasu," I said promptly. "Part of Itachi's bloodlimit. It's a move only Itachi can use at the moment as its exclusive to his eyes only. It's the never-ending fire, anything it touches will burn for all eternity or until there's nothing left of it. Or something of the like. If you want to stop it, try using a fire suppressor technique."

Jiraiya stared at me another moment before he nodded his head once and pulled out a blank scroll. I turned and began walking over to Sasuke while Jiraiya did his sealing.

By the time I reached him, Jiraiya had already sealed away the flames and recalled his special jutsu. I knelt in front of Sasuke and placed a hand over his forehead. Behind me I could hear Naruto approach us.

"How is he, Sakura-chan?" He asked, kneeling beside me.

"You want the truth or the sugar coated lie?" I asked sardonically while sending in waves of chakra through my hand.

"Truth," Naruto said quietly.

Jiraiya now stood behind us.

"He's not looking too good," I admitted. "His arms and ribs are broken. Not to mention he was trapped in Itachi's genjutsu. There's nothing I can do for him and I doubt any Konoha medic could do much better."

Naruto's eyes widened fearfully.

"But," I continued. "there is one person could help him—"

A kunai flew through the air and whizzed right above us, landing with a thud against the wall.

"Dynamic entry!" Gai called out as he ran through the hole in the wall and landed a solid kick against Jiraiya's cheek.

"Wonderful," I deadpanned.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

After Gai had taken Sasuke to the hospital, we began our journey once again. This time however, the walk went rather quietly at first. Naruto was lost in his thoughts and Jiraiya in his. I walked behind the two of them, contemplating on what to do next.

**You know Jiraiya is going to question you about the Akatsuki the moment Naruto is out of sight.**

I know.

**So what are you going to say to him?**

That's what I'm trying to figure out.

Ahead of me, Naruto stopped.

I paused in my walking, choosing to stand behind him. Jiraiya stopped walking as well and turned to face him.

"What's wrong?" Jiraiya asked.

"Why did they come after me?" Naruto asked.

Jiraiya didn't answer.

Growing more bold in his questions, Naruto spoke again. "You know why, right, Pervy-Sage?"

"They aren't after _you_, per say, Naruto," I said.

Naruto turned his head and looked at me with a questioning gaze.

I stepped forward and wrapped an arm around his shoulder at an attempt to comfort him. "They're after your fluffy brother."

Naruto deadpanned. "What?"

I poked his stomach and he flinched away—ticklish it would seem.

I poked him again and a sort of giggle escaped him. I grinned again and did it again and he leapt out of reach and snorted with laughter. "Sakura-chan, stop!"

I grinned evilly. "Never! If I want to tickle my son, damn it, I'm going to tickle him."

I took a menacing step towards him and he took a step back. Jiraiya watched it all with amusement. My grin widened and I ran towards Naruto. He turned tail and attempted to run away but I bunched up chakra to the bottom of my feet to give me an extra boost of speed.

Lurching up into the air, I stretched out my arms and tackled him to the ground. He let out a soft 'oof' as the air left him. I wiggled my fingers dramatically and cackled.

I then proceeded to tickle him.

Naruto squirmed underneath me before he gave up and snorted with laughter. "S-Stop it…!"

I shook my head and continued to tickle him. He howled with laughter. "S-Saku—Sakura-chan, p-please…!"

"Never! A mother never gives up when it comes to her son!"

"Th-Then a-a-as y-your s-son I-I'm…" He laughed and struggled for breath. "a-asking you t-to s-stop…!"

"Oh," I said thoughtfully. "Well if you're asking it as my son…"

I stopped tickling him and rolled off him, popping back up on my feet. He was still laughing and clutching his stomach. I walked over to him and grinned, then I stretched out my hand and offered it to him.

Slowly his laughter died down and he took my hand and I helped him back up. The occasional laugh escaped him though.

He shook his head at me, grinning. "When did I become your son?"

"Around the same time the Chūnin Exams started," I said nonchalantly. "I had decided to adopt you and one other person. And that would be your brother, Fluffy."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "And who is my brother?"

I poked his stomach again and he flinched.

"Him."

He stared at me, uncomprehending before understanding dawned on his face. He then tensed and stared at me with an odd expression.

"You… that… monster… that attacked the village all those years ago is your son?" Naruto asked. "...And you knew it was inside me?"

"It is not an it. It is a _he_ and yes I knew he was inside of you and no; _he_ is not a monster," I sniffed. "He's a fluffy tailed beast."

"But…" Naruto trailed off. "Everyone hates it. Everyone fears it… that's why everyone hates me. Why don't you, Sakura-chan?"

"Hate you?" I asked bluntly.

Naruto nodded his head.

"You're my son; I can't hate you," I said. "Besides, Fluffy isn't you. Fluffy is Fluffy and Naruto is Naruto. Why would I hate you for something your brother was forced to do?"

"Forced?" Jiraiya asked, suddenly reminding me that he was with us.

I waved my hand in a dismissive gesture. "The point is, Naruto. I do not hate you. Just like I don't hate Fluffy. And Fluffy is what the Akatsuki are after—not you."

"Fluffy," Naruto said skeptically. "You named the monster, Fluffy."

"And adopted him too."

He stared at me another moment before he sighed. "You're strange, Sakura-chan."

"But I'm an amazing mother," I agreed.

He smiled and rolled his eyes. "So do I start calling you Kaa-san, now?"

"Feel free too."

"Sakurakaa-chan," Naruto said. "or sometimes just Kaa-chan."

I smiled. "Excellent. Now… shall we continue on our journey?"

Naruto returned my smile and glanced at Jiraiya. "We're ready whenever you are, Pervy-Sage."

Jiraiya smirked. "Well then, let's get going."

* * *

_Hmm... Fluffy is Fluffy._

_I love Fluffy. Jiraiya and Sakura are going to have a talk very soon... probably next chapter._

_Reviews are love._

_See you Tuesday._


	19. Jiraiya's Talk

_"For sale: Parachute. Only used once, never opened, small stain." -Anonymous_

_**Disclaimer: **Naruto is Kishimoto's toy. I'm just playing with it._

_**Warning: **Language_

* * *

We had reached the next city.

All around us the streets were bustling with other folk for the festival at the city. Naruto and I stood next to each other. Naruto was watching the whole thing with wide eyes and excitement etched on to his face. Jiraiya stood in front of us, looking quite pleased with himself.

"Playing is important, too. Get plenty of rest and then we can move on to training," Jiraiya told Naruto. "The festival is going to last a while so we're going to stay here while it goes on. We're going to do our training here, too."

"All right!" Naruto cheered. He grinned largely as he took off his backpack, rummaging through it before he pulled out his fat frog wallet.

Jiraiya's eyes bulged at the size of it. "You're pretty rich!"

Naruto appeared quite pleased with the comment. He rubbed the frog affectionately against his cheek. "I have a lot of money, since I saved up little by little with my missions."

Jiraiya grinned. "Naruto, I'm going to keep your wallet."

Jiraiya moved to take it but I quickly intercepted, pulling out my own wallet. I scowled lightly at Jiraiya.

"Shisho," I scolded. "That's Naruto's money. Here, use this instead."

I promptly handed over my own fat wallet. Jiraiya's eyes bulged. "Eh? Sakura… I had no idea you were this rich."

I sniffed. "Unlike Naruto, I also have an allowance for doing chores at home. I can make twice as much money so it would make more sense if you took my money instead. Naruto worked hard for his money and it's not his responsibility to fund the mission. Since you're my Shisho, I have an obligation to help you out."

Jiraiya grinned. "I like the way you think, Sakura. Very well."

I smirked. "I do however, expect that you buy me at least one desert item while we're on this trip."

"One desert item in exchange for all this money? You have yourself a deal."

I laughed. "Naruto and I will stay here at the festival while you do your… search… so if you need us, come and get us."

"Aa," Jiraiya agreed before he pulled off his pack and handed it to me. "Hold on to this, that way if you get lost, a pursuing-purpose frog summon will follow my scent."

"Aa, Shisho." I took the pack and hefted it over my shoulder with ease before I turned to Naruto I offered my hand. "Alright son of mine, ready to enjoy the festival?"

Naruto grinned. "Yep Kaa-chan!"

Naruto took my hand and then we proceeded to walk away, Naruto quite happy that he still had his money.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

It was late in the afternoon when I decided it was time to fetch Jiraiya. I told Naruto to wait for us in a small clearing outside of the city. He seemed content enough to do that—as he was still chowing down on some fried squid (Blech!).

After wandering around the festival, looking for the right stand, I finally found him.

He was lounging on a couch, a two bottle of sake setting empty on the table in front of him. In each of his arms was a skimpy dressed woman. I entered the stand and quirked an eyebrow at him.

He grinned at me. "Sakura-chan, what are you doing here?"

"Shisho," I said, "It's time to train."

"Mm? Already?"

"Do you have any money left to spend?"

Jiraiya gave me a very sheepish look. "Well… no…"

I chuckled and glanced at the young women. "Excuse me ladies, but Shisho and I must be going. He's out of money so there's no point in staying."

The young women giggled before the pulled away from him and sauntered off. Jiraiya sighed when they left but stood up. "How cruel, Sakura. Just when we were getting to know each other."

"Whatever," I dismissed. "Naruto's anxious to train and so am I."

Jiraiya chuckled. "I figured as much. Alright. But first I'm going to have to find…"

I held up two bags, one in each hand. One was filled with water balloons, the other filled with regular tiny balloons. He stared at them, wide-eyed.

"How did you know?" He asked quietly.

I stared at him. "When Naruto starts his training, we can talk privately."

Jiraiya closed his eyes and let out a small breath. "Very well. Let's go."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

After Naruto began his training, I motioned for Jiraiya to follow me.

"Naruto," I called over my shoulder. "Shisho and I will be taking a walk. Be back in a little bit."

"Aa," Naruto mumbled as he focused on his training.

I gave a slight smile at him before I turned and walked into the forest. My stomach did a small flip-flop, signaling that I was indeed nervous. I heard Jiraiya's footsteps as he followed behind me.

I clenched and relaxed my fists, feeling that sweat had made them sticky. After a while of walking, I stopped and sat down, leaning back against a tree.

Jiraiya stopped in front of me before he sat down.

I licked my lips and let out a small sigh. "What I'm about to tell you, you must never repeat."

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes but nodded his head.

I gnawed at the bottom of my lip. "What I'm about to tell you might also… be a bit difficult to believe."

I let out a tense breath. "Shisho… I _know_ things. Things that I should not know, things that I would not normally know."

"Such as?" Jiraiya prompted after I fell silent.

I lowered my gaze to my hands that rested in my lap. Shit I feel nervous.

**I don't blame you. If you tell him too much, you'll give away major spoilers that could eff up the storyline—and not in a good way. Give him too little and he might drag you to Ibiki to get the rest out which would not only suck for you but **_**also**_** give away spoilers.**

"I know who Naruto's parents are," I blurted out.

**(*WARNING* SPOILERS BELOW. HEAD TO THE SAFETY ZONE IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO KNOW ANY SPOILERS *WARNING*)**

Jiraiya tensed. "And what exactly do you know?"

Hesitantly I lifted my eyes and met his steady gaze. "I know the Minato and Kushina were attacked the night of Naruto's birth. That the masked man released Fluffy onto the Konoha."

Jiraiya's eyes hardened as I continued to speak. I prayed to whatever god that was listening it didn't mean the end for me—not yet. "I know that Naruto was named after the main character in your first book. I know that Minato and Kushina died trying to fight the masked man and Fluffy—only to seal away Fluffy inside of Naruto but died in the process. I know that Naruto is your godchild."

I swallowed hard. "No one told me. Not in the way you think, anyway. I know these things because I kind of _saw_ these things. Not directly, of course." _Through a television and or computer to be exact, but I don't think anyone's quite ready to hear about the other world, if ever. _"But…"

I gestured helplessly, unable to figure out a way to properly describe how I know these things without directly lying.

"Like a vision?"

"Kind of," I said.

"A vision... like a kekkai genkai? Are you saying you have a kekkai genkai to look into the past?"

"Uh... I wouldn't say _kekkai genkai_ because no one in my family has it and I'm not too sure if my kids will have it... I _really _doubt they will."

"Some kekkai genkais," Jiraiya said slowly, "develop at random. Some people might have it, but their kids and grandkids won't have it."

"Oh. Well then, yes, I think I have a kekkai genkai."

"Think?"

"How am I supposed to tell the difference-I've never had one before."

"I suppose that's true."

I shifted nervous as Jiraiya closed his eyes, thinking. I licked my lips and continued speaking. "I won't tell anyone. I doubt they'd believe me but… you needed to know that because what I'm going to tell you next is going to be a bit difficult to hear."

"Difficult to hear?" Jiraiya snorted, opening his eyes. "Sakura you just told me one of the most safe guarded secrets that only two living people—now three—know. You, me, and that 'masked man.' Sakura you've already just told me the impossible."

"Well I'm about to tell you more impossible shit," I muttered.

Jiraiya snorted again.

"I don't only know the past," I began. "I guess you could say I know the future as well."

Jiraiya's eyes widened slightly. "Go on."

"But," I held up a hand and said in the most stern voice I could muster, "I only know _one_ future. A very fragile future, at that. I… I know you dislike hearing this but because of that I _cannot_ tell you _everything_ I know just yet. If I do, you would try and change it and I cannot allow that to happen yet. If the future I know is changed, all my knowledge would be useless and the future might just have changed for the worse."

"You said 'yet', does that you will tell me?" Jiraiya asked with narrowed eyes.

"You have my word," I promised. "I will tell _you_ all I know at some point. I can't promise to tell anyone else though."

Jiraiya nodded. "Alright, I will hold you to that. Continue."

I nodded my head and gnawed at my lip again. "I want a better future. Because the one that I've seen is just flat out depressing. To do that, I have to plan carefully. I have to change enough things that I can guarantee the future will take a turn for the better. But at the same time I have to make sure some things stay the same so I don't fuck up the future too much that I can't do shit about it."

I sighed. "I have… I have a general idea on what I need to change and how… it's just going to be difficult."

Jiraiya gave me a slight nod of encouragement after I fell silent again. I gave him a grateful smile before I spoke once again, "How much do you about the Uchiha Massacre?"

Jiraiya's eyes narrowed. "The basics. Itachi Uchiha snapped and slaughtered everyone with the exception of his brother. What else is there to tell?"

"A lot," I said softly.

I cleared my throat. "First of all… I must know… do you believe me? Because what I'm going to explain is going to be extraordinarily difficult to grasp."

Jiraiya was quiet for a moment. "I have been alive for quite some time… there are many things that surprise me still and many that don't. You certainly fall into one of the more surprising things I have encountered but…" He paused. "I do not _dis_believe you. For the sake of this conversation I will say that I _do_ believe you."

I let out a tense breath I didn't even know I was holding. "Good. Good. Alright… After Fluffy's attack, Konoha's Elders grew… suspicious and tense about the Uchiha's. This was because only a Sharingan could control Fluffy. So naturally…"

"They believed the Uchiha's were behind the attack," Jiraiya finished, he frowned. "But why? What would the Uchiha Clan have to gain from the attack?"

"Good question," I muttered. "But it didn't really matter what motives the Elders thought the Uchiha Clan held, they were suspicious and that was enough for the tension to begin. In order to keep an eye on the Uchiha Clan, they were forced to live within the village and kept under surveillance. Of course, being egotistic as ever, they didn't appreciate it."

Jiraiya gave a snort.

"So… they decided to form a coup d'état."

Jiraiya's eyes widened briefly. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," I said. "Naturally they didn't let just anyone in on it… not everyone in the Clan was part of it. Only the elders, the leaders and the bloodthirsty." I closed my eyes. "At the time, Itachi Uchiha was their prized prodigy. They sent him into the ANBU to spy on the Elders on behalf of the Uchiha Clan. But…"

I opened my eyes. "They didn't count on Itachi become scarred."

"Scarred?"

"Forced into war at a young age," I explained. "Forced into seeing the death and destruction and what it can lead. It led Itachi to becoming a pacifist at heart."

"Itachi? The same one that wanted to kidnap Naruto?"

"The very same," I muttered. "I know it is difficult to believe, but allow me to finish. Itachi knew that if the Uchiha Clan had their way, a civil war would break out in Konoha. Innocent lives would be lost as would pointless blood be spilled. Itachi didn't want this to happen, so he played a double agent."

"A double agent?" Jiraiya echoed, his frown stretching further down as he tried to process what I was saying.

"Yes," I said patiently. "He informed the Hokage and Elders of what the Uchiha Clan was planning and served as a spy for them. For years he tried to keep the tension to a minimum but… long story short the Elders of the village ordered Itachi to slaughter the entire Uchiha Clan."

My hands clenched tightly into fists. "Itachi didn't want to do it. He loathed the very idea but there was no other way at that point. At least, as far as the Elders were concerned. So with the help of—" I caught myself and cleared my throat. "With… outside assistance, Itachi slaughtered the entire clan with the exception of his baby brother. Why? Because he couldn't do it. He murdered his girlfriend, his friends, his parents but he couldn't bring himself to kill Sasuke. And that is why Sasuke is still alive. That is why Itachi would not kill Sasuke—why I knew he would be fine and didn't want to help."

I relaxed my hands. "That is the truth behind the Uchiha Massacre."

Jiraiya sighed, sounding suddenly very tired. "And Itachi was forced to flee the scenes and be labeled as a missing-nin because no one could know the truth. If they did, there would be riots from the other clans."

"Because if Konoha could end the Uchiha Clan..." I muttered.

"…They would end their clans as well," Jiraiya finished. He sighed again and rubbed his temple. "You were right, Sakura. This is… difficult to grasp. I knew the Elders were…"

"Not all the Elders," I murmured. "It was Danzō's idea. The other two were merely puppets—tools. Useless and easily influenced."

My face twisted into a sneer. "It's pathetic, really. How Danzō has almost all of the power of Konoha at his beck and call but he can't obtain the _one_ thing he wants most."

I shook my head.

Jiraiya glanced at me. "This… this information… why did you tell me?"

I sighed. "Because I need your help, I suppose. Before the year ends, Uchiha Sasuke will defect from the village and choose to train under Orochimaru."

Jiraiya's eyes widened.

I held up my hand to single for him to relax. "This… this must be done. The power and knowledge he wishes to obtain so soon can only be obtained with Orochimaru. That and he needs to learn to control his curse mark or he'll die. After… after Sasuke has left you will take Naruto to train with you for two and a half years."

I looked up at him and held his gaze. "Again, this course of action must be followed as well. At the end of Sasuke's training, he will betray Orochimaru and attempt to kill him. He will assume he has and then pursue his goal."

"His goal?" Jiraiya questioned.

"To kill Uchiha Itachi."

Jiraiya closed his eyes and muttered under his breath. "The same brother that isn't in actuality the villain."

"The very same," I murmured. "Sasuke will reach his goal—he will kill Uchiha Itachi. That… that is something that must change."

"What do you mean?" Jiraiya asked, opening one eye.

"If Sasuke were to kill Itachi," I explained, "the… masked man would find him and reveal the truth about the massacre to Sasuke. And how do you suppose Sasuke would react to the news?"

"Not well," Jiraiya said. "Someone who devoted the majority of his ninja life to killing his brother—only to find out he's been duped? Not well at all."

"Indeed. Sasuke will become… set… on destroying Konoha to avenge his clan. And that… cannot happen. We need Sasuke _and_ Itachi, more than ever, if we have any hope for the future to get brighter. So I need your help in finding a way to prevent Itachi's death."

Jiraiya now had both his eyes opened and was frowning at me. "Are you sure that's what must be done?"

"Positive. And it must be done in a way that does not betray anything more than the bare minimum. Meaning no one else but you and I must know about this plan. And we cannot tell Sasuke the truth about the massacre until after his training with Orochimaru—but we also have to do it with Itachi so we can bring both of them back. We need them. I just… I just don't know how to get them," I grumbled.

"Sasuke," Jiraiya said, "will need to know the truth. If we hope to bring both of them back, there cannot be any secrets. I doubt Sasuke would allow Itachi to live if he was still set on revenge. But in doing so, Sasuke will set his goal to avenge the clan."

I nodded my head.

"And you're sure we can't just kill him now?"

I glared. "That would _really_ fuck up the future. And probably not in a good way."

Jiraiya sighed. "Worth a shot. Then how can we…?"

Suddenly an idea formed in my head. I sucked in a sharp breath. "The Elders."

"What?"

I shook my head and smiled. "I… I think I have a plan."

"What is it?" Jiraiya asked.

I hesitated before answering, "It's probably best if you don't know."

Jiraiya frowned.

"Trust me," I said.

Jiraiya closed his eyes, his face set in deep thought. Minutes ticked by before he opened them with a sigh, "For now. I trust you will tell me eventually. I've regretted giving out my trust so easily before... I hope for your sake and my own it won't happen again."

"You can count on that, Shisho."

"Good," He muttered before he stood and stretched. "Now, we better head back to Naruto and begin your own training."

I grinned. "Aa, Shisho."

I stood up and brushed off the dirt. I stretched and then glanced at Jiraiya.

I gnawed at the bottom of my lip.

In a quiet voice I said, "Thanks for believing in me, Shisho."

Jiraiya glanced at me and smiled. Not a haughty smile, not a smug smile, just an ordinary smile a teacher would give to a student when the student has done well.

"Aa. Just remember, you can always confide to me."

I smiled.

**(SAFETY ZONE HAS BEEN REACHED! IN SHORT: SAKURA CONFIDED INTO JIRAIYA THAT SHE KNOWS ABOUT NARUTO'S PARENTS AND THE TRUTH BEHIND THE UCHIHA MASSACRE. ALSO, SHE HAS DEVISED A PLAN—PARTIALLY—INTO PREVENTING SASUKE FROM KILLING ITACHI)**

* * *

_I always imagined Jiraiya as kind of the patient, laid back kind of guy. The good guy through and through. But he's still a shinobi, so he can't be _too_ trusting. But then again, look at Nagato, Konan and Yahiko. He trusted them readily and look what happened..._

_What do you think Sakura's plan is for the Elders? Or plan that involves the Elders I should say. If you guess right, I'll give you a cookie._

_**One of my reviewers** pointed out this is still dangerously and annoyingly close to cannon. I've responded to this already in chapter 5, bottom author's note. But I will keep in mind that some reviewers are more inclined to be dissatisfied with repetitive information and I will attempt to 'zone out' more often. Thank you for pointing this out._

_Reviews are love._

_See you Tuesday/Friday._


	20. Salamanders and Lullabies

_"I used to have superpowers... but a therapist took them away." -Anonymous_

_**D**__**isclaimer: **Naruto is Kishimoto's toy. I'm just playing with it._

_**Warning: **Language_

* * *

"This," Jiraiya said as he pulled out a thick dark blue scroll, "is the summoning contract for salamanders."

He opened the scroll and rolled it out before me. I smiled hugely at it. A little ways from us, Naruto continued his training.

"You remember the handseals?"

I nodded my head.

"You remember what to do?"

Once again I nodded my head.

Jiraiya grinned. "Well then, get to it."

I smirked and held up my right hand. Naruto gave his blood through a bite on his thumb—I'm giving my blood through a bite on the bottom of my palm. I bit down hard on my hand. I winced at the sharp pain and the coppery taste of my blood.

I bent my fingers down so the tip of each finger was covered in blood.

I then wrote my name in blood on the scroll—next to Hanzō's. I then pressed my bloody palm right underneath my name.

Jiraiya eyed my signature for a moment, frowning. "What language is that?"

I stared at him. I looked down at my signature. I looked back up at him, frowning. I looked back down.

That's when it hit me.

I wrote my name in English.

I gaped at it. I then looked at Hanzō's name—Japanese—but yet I understood the letters perfectly.

Why the hell am I just now noticing this?

'**Cause you're an idiot?**

Shut up.

"Er… English."

"Never heard of it," Jiraiya mused.

"It's a… um… Western language," I mumbled. Jiraiya shrugged but dismissed it. I cleared my throat.

"So… can I begin the summoning?"

Jiraiya smirked and rolled the scroll back up. He handed it to me. I took the heavy scroll in my arms and raised an eyebrow.

"That scroll belongs to you. You're the only other salamander summoner aside from Hanzō but for whatever reason I haven't been able to get in contact with him. So it's your duty to hold on to it."

"Ah," I mumbled. "Okay then."

"And yes… now you may begin your summonings."

I smiled and set my scroll down before I preformed the appropriate hand seals. Pushing in a massive amount of chakra I slammed my palm into the ground.

There was a loud poof and…

A tiny little black salamander squirmed in front of me. I stared at it.

Jiraiya snorted.

I poked it. "Um… hi…?"

The salamander sneezed and disappeared in a poof. I sighed. Damn… long day of training ahead for me. Goody.

"Well… now that you're all set, I suppose I'll go ahead and take a nap. Wake me when either you or Naruto are ready to move on."

"Yes, Shisho," I said meekly.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

As it would seem, at the end of the day when the sun was setting, I hadn't gotten any farther in my summonings. I still summoned that same salamander that showed up, sneezed, and poofed away. Naruto had awoken Jiraiya for tips on mastering his famed Rasengan at sunset and once Jiraiya had given the tips, he left for town.

Naruto and I stayed behind to continue our training. It wasn't until the moon had fully risen that I dragged Naruto from training to get some rest.

The next day Naruto and I set out for training.

We made no progress.

It was only the third day that _I_ made progress.

It was midafternoon and I was beginning to feel woozy from the blood loss. I had decided to take a small break after one last summon to allow my body some rest.

It was that summon that I made progress in.

I was expecting the same tiny little black salamander.

Instead, I got two salamanders.

They were both pretty small—I admit that—but they were larger. They both could fit in the palm of my hand with their tails drooping down. One of them was an all dark blue salamander with red claws. The other was an all red salamander with blue claws.

I stared dumbly at the double summoning.

The two salamanders glanced up at me.

_~Hello human. Did you summon us?~_

I gave a startled jump at the sudden voice in my head. It was a soft voice—feminine.

_-_There was a snort inside my head. _Don't be ridiculous. This human is far too small to summon us. Let us go sister.-_

This voice was deeper, more masculine. But it was still pretty high pitch.

~A sigh. _Brother, size does not always matter~_

"What the hell?" I asked aloud. I peered down at the two salamanders that were peering right back up at me. "Are those… are those voices coming from you?

**The fuck? They can get in our head? Look here bitches, I don't share well. Stay outta my mind.**

-_Wonderful. An insane chick summoned us. I'm outta here.-_

_ ~Wait brother! Don't be so rude. So what if she has a split personality? It's not that unusual, look at Hato-oji.~_

_ -You leave Hato-oji out of this sis!-_

_ ~Why? I'm just making a point.~_

**…Are you ignoring me?**

_~Oh! I'm so dreadfully sorry. Allow us to introduce ourselves.~_

The blue salamander took a step towards me and dipped her head—I'm assuming it's a her at this point.

_~I am Gedo. I am the keeper and maker of the antidotes.~_

The red salamander then stepped forward, though he did not dip his head.

_-I'm Doku. I am the keeper and maker of poisons.-_

"And you're speaking to me through my head," I stated bluntly.

Gedo tilted her head and smiled slightly. It was a little unnerving but kind of pretty at the same time.

_~In a manner of speaking, yes. It is how we communicate as we have no lips to form words ourselves. We speak with our summoner through private thoughts.~_

"Will I learn to speak to you like that or do I have to talk aloud?" I asked her.

_~In time you may learn your own way of communicating with us. For the moment your inner personality is able to speak back to us through thoughts.~_

"Ignore my Inner, she's an insane bitch. I don't know why I have her—I swear I'm not that insane."

_-But you don't deny being a bitch? _Doku snorted.-

I shrugged. "I'd be biased if I claimed otherwise. I don't know how I come off to others so I can't say if I am or not."

Gedo smiled. _~So I take it this is your first summoning of a more intelligent salamander?~_

"Yeah," I chuckled. "All I've been getting for the past two days was the same black salamander. Poor guy. Anyway… so… Gedo you are the keeper and maker of antidotes? Does that mean you make your own antidotes to poisons? And Doku… does that mean you make your own poisons?"

_~Correct.~_

_ -Spot on brat.-_

I grinned. "That's useful."

_-Yeah. All of the other summoners certainly agree poisoning their enemies is quite useful.-_

"And antidotes," I said. "Never make a poison if you don't have antidotes."

Gedo looked up at me curiously. _~Normally only Doku is summoned. Rarely will I ever be called.~_

"That's not going to be the case here," I warned her. "If I summon either of you, the other one is coming. I'm not that big of an idiot to attack with a poison I don't have a cure to."

_-_Doku snorted. _Kudos. You have common sense.-_

I glared at him. "You and my Inner would get along wondrously."

He glared right back.

_~Be calm, brother.~_ Gedo placed a tail over his. Doku glanced at her before sighing and relaxing.

_-Whatever.-_

"So," I drawled, deciding it was time to change the subject. "who else can I summon?"

_~The Salamander group is not a very large one. We have few intellectual others that are willing to be summoned, as not many ninjas prefer to summon us. We are not offensive in combat—except for Ibuse, but he is the only exception. In short, we only have ten summons including my brother and I. Though I doubt you will ever summon more than five different others.~_

I frowned. "Why's that?"

_-You're a female.-_

My eyes narrowed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

_~Nothing offensive.~_ Gedo was quick to reassure. _~The other five salamanders are unable to be summoned to anyone other than a male. This is because they require to become physical stable in this world, and in order to do that they must bond with a summoner of the same gender. As you are not a male, they will not be able to properly bond with you and complete the summon.~_

"Oh," I said dumbly. "Why would they need to be bonded?"

_-Because they're old as hell and can't do shit right.-_

_ ~Doku! Show respect for the elders.~_

Doku snorted.

I chuckled. "Alright. Well… Are you guys hungry?"

_~Hungry?~_ Gedo asked curiously.

"Yeah. I was going to take a break and eat… since I summoned you here, wanna join me and my son?"

_-You have a son? You tramp.-_

I scowled at him. "Adopted son."

_-Oh. Well. Yes, I would like to eat.-_

I rolled my eyes and glanced at Gedo. She smiled again and dipped her head. I smiled happily and offered my hands out. Gedo climbed into the palm of my left hand while Doku marched right onto my right hand. I lifted them up and carried them over to the shaded tree where our bags rested. I set them down and pulled out my bag.

"Naruto!" I shouted. "Lunch time, get your ass over here son."

"… Yeah, yeah Sakurakaa-chan!" Naruto shouted back.

I chuckled and pulled out two lunch boxes. I set one aside for Naruto before I opened my own. It was a nice little lunch. On the right side and taking up half of the room was rise with a roll of seaweed on it—'cause that shit is delicious. On the left side was an assortment of goodies and meats.

I set my box on the ground in front of them.

"Help yourself," I said and grabbed my chopsticks.

Gedo sniffed the food before she took a bite of some of the meat. Doku began nibbling off of the other meat while I munched happily on the rice.

"Eh? Sakura? Who're they?"

I glanced up to see Naruto walking towards me, rubbing his right palm. He plopped down next to me and pulled out his own lunch.

"That's Gedo," I said, gesturing to the blue one. "And that's Doku." I gestured to the red one. "They're my latest summons—they actually talk."

"Cool," Naruto said cheerfully. "Hi, I'm Naruto Uzumaki—nice to meet'ya."

_~A pleasure.~_

_ -Loudmouth.-_

I snickered. "They say it's nice to meet you too."

Naruto gave me a confused look.

"Only I can hear them because I summoned them," I explained. His face cleared up and he nodded his head and continued to eat.

After a few minutes of silence he cursed and dropped his chopsticks. I glanced at him and frowned. "Something wrong?"

"My hand's stuck," Naruto explained, glaring down at his hand. It was stuck in the same position he's been holding it in for the past for days.

"Let me see," I said, reaching out for it. I grasped his hand and sent in a wave of chakra. I rolled my eyes before I began to massage his hand while my own hands pulsed green.

_~You are a medical kunoichi?~_

"Training to be," I said. At Naruto's questioning gaze I continued. "Gedo asked. I'm training to be a medical kunoichi now so I don't have to train later. I don't want to just be a medical ninja—I want to be offensive too."

_~I see.~_

"Which reminds me," I said. "Gedo, because you're so good at antidotes—and Doku, you're good at poisons—you two must be very skilled when it comes to herbalism."

_-Of course we are.-_

"So do you suppose you could help me train?" I asked them. "I'm not very skilled when it comes to herbalism, I'm afraid, and I'm sure it'll be a huge help to have professional help and not just some stinky old dictionary."

_~It would be an honor.~_

_ -Sure. So long as you bring the food I'll teach you whatever you want kid.-_

I smiled happily and withdrew my hand. Naruto flexed his hand for a moment before he grinned. "Thanks Sakura-chan!"

"That's what mommas are for," I replied. "Now eat your lunch. You'll need all the strength you can get."

"Yes ma'am!" Naruto saluted me.

I chuckled.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

It took another day and a morning for Naruto to move on to the second step of his Rasengan. As decided, I had spent the rest of the previous studying different herbs and learning their properties, as well as all of the next day.

Gedo was a patient instructor that took her time in explaining many things about a single herb. Doku was a sadistic instructor that took his pleasure in me finding out what each herb does on my own. All I can say was—thank God/Jashin/Pein/Kami that Gedo was there with antidotes.

The morning, however, had only just begun.

The three of us were sleeping on our rolled out mat. Me in the middle with Naruto on my right and Jiraiya on my left. I remember waking up with a still foggy mind to see Naruto stumble out of the room mumbling for the bathroom.

I dismissed it and went back to sleep.

When I awoke next it was to the startled shout of Jiraiya.

I grumbled and creaked open an eye, moving my head to stare at Naruto and Jiraya. Naruto was grinning. "I've cleared the first step."

I looked down to see Jiraiya's face wet.

"It's too fucking early for this," I muttered and rolled back over. I pulled the sheets over my head. "Wake me when food is here or the sun is actually up."

I promptly went back to sleep.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"Sakura-chan, Sakura-chan."

Something poked my cheek. I let out a groan and opened one of my eyes. Naruto was staring down at me and grinning.

"Good morning Kaa-chan," Naruto greeted me. "Time to get up and train. I brought food."

I groaned again and slowly sat up. Sure enough a plate of yummy eggs and syrup rested beside my bed. I licked my lips and yawned. "Mn."

"So you finished your first step in training?" I asked him after shoving a large sum of sweet eggs in my mouth.

"Yep! Pervy-Sage is going to show me the next step once both of us head to the clearing."

"Mn," I mumbled. "Goody."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Two weeks passed. In the mornings Jiraiya suggested I focused on my earth ninjutsu technique, so that's what I did. However in the afternoon and evenings I studied under Gedo and Doku. Naruto made little progress in his training and it frustrated the hell out of him.

The second step was a lot harder than the first and placed a lot more strain on his body. At the end of each day I would spend roughly ten minutes just easing away his fatigue and massaging his sore hands. He was pretty damn grateful about it.

On the end of the second week, Jiraiya came to visit us.

"Oi, Naruto," Jiraiya said. "Go down into the city and buy us some food."

"Eh?" Naruto asked, stopping from his training. "Why me?"

"Because I said so," Jiraiya replied.

Naruto sighed and muttered under his breath. "Yeah, yeah…"

I snickered.

_-Enough distractions. We're still quizzing you here. Mescal Buttons—what are their uses?-_

I sighed. "Cardiac, tonic, narcotic, emetic. Useful in neurasthenia, hysteria, and asthma, and has been recommended in gout, neuralgia and rheumatism."

_-You're just quoting that right back at me. Do you understand what any of that means?-_

I bristled. "I've been training to be a medical nin long enough to understand what it means. Cardiac, involving the heart. Tonic, response of muscle fiber. Narcotic, sleep inducing. Emetic, induces vomiting. Want me to define the other words as well?"

_~Don't let him bait you, Sakura-sama. We can finish the quiz later, it would appear your Shisho is here to greet you.~_

I snorted but let it slide. I looked back up at Jiraiya who was walking over to me. He plopped down next to me.

"I don't believe you've introduced me to your summons," He said.

"This is Gedo, she specializes in antidotes," I gestured to Gedo.

"And this asshole is Doku, he specializes in poisons," I sniffed.

_-Asshole? I'll show you asshole…!-_

_ ~Doku, calm down…. She is right you know. You have been very rude to her.~_

_ -Oh! So you take her side?-_

~Sigh. _Doku, I am merely stating the obvious.~_

_ -Fine. Be that way.-_

I stuck my tongue out at him. He flicked his tail at me.

Jiraiya gave me an amused look. "Am I missing something here?"

"Only I can hear them," I explained.

"I figured as much," Jiraiya mused.

I shrugged. "So what brings you up here, Shisho?"

"I needed a break from my search," Jiraiya sighed.

I chuckled. "Ah. Alright."

We fell into a comfortable silence as we waited for Naruto to return.

Though, we didn't wait too long. Soon enough Naruto slowly dragged himself into the clearing, appearing much more sullen than his normally hyperactive self. After he dropped off the food for Jiraiya, he and my Shisho had a small discussion out of earshot.

I watched them quietly as I tried to rack my brain for what the hell had happened in the show that made him so upset.

I recalled the show. Naruto was upset because he had seen a father/son moment at the festival. He was feeling lonely and left out.

Frowning slightly I glanced over at my summons.

"I'm going to have to dismiss you guys for the rest of the day," I told them.

Gedo frowned. _~Is something wrong?~_

"Naruto needs cheering up right now," I told them. "So I won't be able to train until he's happy again."

_-Fine. But because you're postponing the quiz—again—the questions will be a lot harder and a lot longer tomorrow.-_

"Deal," I said.

The both poofed and went back to their world.

When Jiraiya left, I approached Naruto.

"Naruto," I said softly.

Naruto glanced over at me and gave me a huge grin. "Hey Sakura-chan, what's up?"

I grabbed his hand and tugged him behind me.

"Something wrong, Sakura?" Naruto asked as I continued to pull him behind me. I dragged him over to the shaded tree at the end of the clearing. I then sat down and pulled him down next to me.

Naruto was giving me a curious look but allowed me to do so. I then lifted my left arm, wrapped it around his shoulders and pulled him in for a hug.

"Sakura…?"

"It's a mommy's job to comfort her son," I told him. "So shut up and let me comfort you."

"…Sakura, I'm fine," Naruto mumbled.

"Liar," I muttered. "You can't fool me with a fake smile."

He stiffened and I sighed. "Naruto… I know I may not be your actual mom and I know this whole thing seems really weird to you but I _do_ care for you like a little brother. And I suppose like a son—even if you think I'm only a few months older than you—but that's the truth. You can always talk to me if you're feeling down."

Ever so slowly, Naruto relaxed.

"You really think of me like a son?"

"I do," I promised. "We're family, right? Maybe not by blood but… we're family."

He was quiet for a moment before he rested his head on my shoulder. His eyes closed. "Yeah. We're family."

I smiled, content. "Why don't you take a break from training? Just close your eyes and go to sleep."

For a few seconds, he didn't respond. Then in a quiet, almost childlike voice, he asked, "Can I sleep here?"

I looked down at him and he continued to stare at his hands, unable to meet my gaze. I smiled again before I pulled him into a more proper hug. He stiffened at the movement but relaxed in the end.

"Yes Naru-chan, you can sleep with Momma for today," I told him.

He smiled and relaxed. A second passed and his eyes closed. A few more seconds passed and he was sound asleep.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"…_I'm outdated, overrated, morning seems so far away. So I'll sing a melody and hope to God your listening, sleeping softly while I sing. And I'll be your memories, your lullaby for all the times, hoping that my voice could get it right,_" I sung softly while I absently petted Naruto's hair.

The sun has long since gone down and the full moon was big and beautiful above us. Naruto somehow managed to sleep away the rest of the day and was still sound asleep. I didn't really have the heart to wake him up so I just amused myself with singing songs I could vaguely remember.

_"If luck is on my side tonight, my clumsy tongue will make it right and risk the touch—it isn't much but it's enough. To form imaginary lines, forget your scars we'll forget mine. The hours change so fast. Oh, God, please make this last. 'Cause I'm outdated, overrated, morning seems so far away. So I'll sing a melody and hope to God your listening, sleeping softly while I sing. And I'll be your memories, your lullaby for all the times, hoping that my voice could get it right._"

Naruto stirred in my eyes and I immediately shut my mouth. I glanced down to see Naruto slowly blinking his eyes open. He yawned.

"Nice nap?" I asked.

He started at my groggily before his brain finally kicked into gear. He grinned up at me before pulling himself out of my arms. "Yep. Thanks Momma."

I snickered. "That's what mommas are for. Seeing how it's already pretty late, why don't we head back now?"

Naruto nodded his head; still grinning. "'Kay."

After pulling himself up, he helped me up. I winced at how my legs tingled. "Damn, my legs fell asleep."

Naruto laughed. "Heh, heh. Really? My entire body still feels asleep—feels like my clothes are being weighed down with sand or something."

I froze.

"Sand?"

"Yeah, sand."

I stared at Naruto, my mouth forming a small 'o.'

"OH SHIT!" I shouted.

"What's wrong?"

Naruto and I whirled around to see Jiraiya heading up to meet us. He frowned at us. "I was just coming up here to make sure you two didn't spend the night here. It's way past your usual bed time."

"Ninjas don't have bedtimes," Naruto snorted

"Forget that!" I cried out. "I can't believe I forgot!"

"Forgot what?" Naruto asked, frowning.

"I'm such a terrible person!" I cried, my eyes widening. "I feel so ashamed of myself!"

"Calm down, what's wrong Sakura?" Jiraiya asked.

"I FORGOT TO WRITE TO GAARA!" I wailed. "WHAT KIND OF FAN GIRL AM I? DAMN IT ALL! I WORKED SO FUCKING HARD FOR THAT PRIVELGE TOO! 'SNOT FAIR!"

I fell to my knees in despair.

Naruto and Jiraiya eyed me with a very familiar expression. The same expression Naruto wore when I had a fangasm all over Kisame in our first encounter.

"Sakura I don't think…"

"Shut up!" I sobbed. "I'm a terrible person! How could I forget such a crucial thing?"

"Er.. Momma, you can write to him when we get to the hotel. And I'm sure he'll understand."

I sniffled. "Really? Y-You think so?"

Jiraiya—seeing this was a chance to avoid any possible tears I could shed—decided to support the idea. "Yeah! Tell you what; I'll even rent the fastest messenger bird for you. How's that sound?"

"Wouldn't it be cheaper if I used one of your frogs?" I sniffled again.

Jiraiya frowned. "Well, yes but I didn't think you would want to."

"Why not?"

"Most girls don't like frogs."

"I'm okay with frogs if they can give my letters to Gaara."

"…Alright then. You write the letter and I'll send it."

I beamed and jumped back up. "Excellent! Well then boys, what are we waiting for? I have a letter to write!"

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"Thanks again for doing this, Shisho," I said with a smile.

Jiraiya returned the smile with one of his own. His hands were already moving into the summoning technique.

"It's no trouble, Sakura, I'm glad I could be of assistance," He said.

He slammed his right hand to the wooden floor and with a loud poofing sound, white smoke billowed out from beneath his hand.

When the smoke cleared a relatively big frog took its place. It croaked.

I handed my scroll to Jiraiya who took it and place it in the strap on the frog's back.

"Take this to Suna—give it to a person by the name of Gaara," Jiraiya said.

"He'll have bright red hair and dark rings around his eyes," I informed the frog.

The frog croaked once before disappearing in a poof. Jiraiya grinned. "He'll have your letter by the morning—and most likely you'll have a reply by tomorrow evening."

I giggled happily.

* * *

_You'll see the letter in the next chapter. :) A nice surprise actually, will begin in the next chapter and will continue for the rest of this story._

_Oh, forgot to disclaim the song. It's Marade Parade, the song is called _I Swear This Time I Mean It. _It's a very nice lullaby._

**_If an OC replaced Sakura, how can she still use chakra?_**

_An Oc died and then entered Sakura's body. Sakura's body is the body that is being used. Sakura can use chakra because her body has a chakra system. Why would that system suddenly dissapear just because a conscious is replaced? Or soul, or whatever? I see no reason why this Oc should not be able to perform jutsus when she is using Sakura's body._

**_Won't people be suspicious of Sakura?_**

_**I already answered most of this in chapter fourteen**. **What I did not answer, I will answer here.** A sudden switch in personality is, I suppose, strange. But Sakura also had a supposedly sudden switch in personality already. From being a wallpaper girl to... fan girl. Even if the personality switch is a bit strange, how would they know? I highly doubt Kakashi or any of the other present Jounin senseis stalked Sakura before the examination, so Kakashi only just met her for the first time that day. That's how he was able to discern her personality, and the Oc was already Sakura on that day so as far as Kakashi and the others are concerned, there's no sudden change in behavior. As for those who know Sakura enough to be suspicious which is... Iruka, when has she seen him since graduation? A single day she acts odd doesn't really seem too terribly strange. Everyone has odd days. The Rookie Nine? Who? Ino-ex best friend, and they're friends now so I don't see why Ino would particuarly complain about the switch, and Sakura explained her reasoning to Ino. Naruto? I don't really think any nasty thoughts would pass through his head about Sakura. Let alone that she's a spy. That's a bit too OoC. Anyway, my point is that a simple change in personality on a _life changing day in her life_ wouldn't and shouldn't be the cause of suspicion._

_That is to say I'm not saying no one wil ever be suspcious of her. I'd just like to point out that it _is _possible for her to not be suspected. And more than likely she won't be suspected from just a switch in personality._

_Reviews are love._

_See you Tuesday/Friday._


	21. Drunk Tsunade is a Melancholy Tsunade

_"Having voices in your head is normal. Listening to them, common. Arguing, acceptable. However, when you lose the argument, you're in trouble." -Anonymous_

_**Disclaimer: **Naruto is Kishimoto's toy. I'm just playing with it._

_**Warning: **Language._

* * *

Dear Gaara,

Hi there! In case you've forgotten—it's me, Sakura! The pink haired girl from the **Chuunin** Exams.

First of all, I'm _so_ sorry!

I forgot to write to you until Naruto reminded me. :(

I'm very sorry and I hope you can forgive me. But moving on to happier things, I'm currently journeying with Naruto and my Shisho (Jiraiya—who by the way, is loaning me his messenger frogs) in search of the Fifth Hokage. So far the journey has been alright.

We first ran into two members of the Akatsuki (Itachi and Kisame) but Jiraiya sent them away. Now we're gathering information for our search in the town but we'll also squeezing in a lot of training time. Naruto's learning a super cool move and I've been practicing with my summons.

But enough about me. How are you? Are you feeling any better from your fight with Naruto? I hope so. How's Temari and Kankuro? Tell them I said hi, please!

To reply to me, just write out the letter and hand it to the froggy. :) He'll give it to Jiraiya who will give it to me.

I hope to hear from you soon! And I'll be writing to you daily so… expect to hear from me tomorrow!

Groveling at your feet,

Sakura

P.S. Naruto says hi.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

The next day went off as usual. The morning was slow and relaxed as I practiced my (pathetically) _only_ ninjutsu over and over. Naruto continued to practice his own move.

It was time for lunch—before I summoned Doku and Gedo—when Jiraiya came back.

He smiled at us.

I stopped in my latest attempt at my Earth Flow Wave and glanced over at him. Naruto grinned and waved at Jiraiya.

"Hey you two, how's training?" Jiraiya asked, pulling out two items.

"Fine," I said as Jiraiya tossed me one of the items.

I caught it, finding it to be a lone strawberry popsicle. I grinned at it before I stuck it in my mouth. The other kind was a blue popsicle—the kind you split in half to share with two people. Jiraiya split that one and handed one half to Naruto.

Naruto stared at it a moment before his face broke out into a splitting grin.

"Thanks Pervy-Sage," Naruto said happily.

"Thanks Shisho," I echoed.

"Right. I came to see how your training has been going, Naruto," Jiraiya said. "Sakura, I hope you don't mind if I focus on Naruto for a bit."

I waved my hand dismissively. "Actually that's fine. I think I'll take a break from my exercise and read my _only_ medical book. Damn I really should have brought more."

I shook my head and sighed ruefully at my foolishness as I headed over to the shaded tree. I pulled out my thick, big ass book that seemed to weigh far more than it should and began to read. While I read and sucked on my popsicle, Naruto and Jiraiya trained.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

A final week passed.

A week of training, sleeping and training some more on our part.

A week of getting constantly drilled about herbs by Doku and Gedo.

A week _finally_ passed.

And now, instead of being at the training grounds like usual. We stood on a roof and stared out at a collapsed tower. Naruto to my left and Jiraiya to my left.

"…What happened here?" Naruto asked as he stared at the rubble of what was left of the tower.

"I have a pretty good idea," I muttered. Jiraiya gave me a sidelong glance but before he could comment, screams of help interrupted him.

A group of people ran on the ground below us. Jiraiya noticed one of them and called out. "Hi there, long time no see."

A lone man stopped and looked up at us.

"What happened?" Jiraiya asked.

"You should run too," The man said, his voice rising with panic. "There's a monster up there!"

"Monster?" Naruto asked.

"What kind of monster?" Jiraiya asked, his voice holding a slight edge to it.

"A huge snake! It destroyed the castle instantly!" The man exclaimed.

I frowned and looked back at the rubble. That was a castle? Oops, my mistake. While I was looking over at the rubble, the man took his chance at Jiraiya's silence and fled.

"We're going," Jiraiya said.

"Yes, Shisho," I murmured. Naruto grinned and gave a mock salute.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

After a full day of jumping from roof to roof in search of Tsunade, Jiraiya finally came across a bar. Naruto and I walked behind him slowly, Naruto complaining this was all pointless and we should get back to training. Though, Jiraiya successfully ignored the complaints.

He stopped outside the bar

"Let's have dinner here for now," Jiraiya said.

Naruto glanced at the bar and glowered. "This is a bar! This is no place for Momma and me."

"It'll be fine—not like I'm telling you to drink," Jiraiya drawled.

I placed a hand over Naruto's shoulder and gave a slight smile. "Don't worry it Naruto."

"Hmph," Naruto grumbled but let it slide. Jiraiya walked into the bar and glanced around. Naruto and I walked in right behind him.

There, in the back corner was Tsunade and Shizune.

Tsunade and Jiraiya noticed each other and stared.

"Tsunade!" Jiraiya exclaimed, pointing his hand dramatically.

Tsunade stood up and glowered. "Jiraiya? Why are you here?"

"I finally found you. Boy, am I tired," Jiraiya said as he began to walk towards her.

I tugged Naruto along behind me as Jiraiya took his seat across Tsunade and Shizune at the table. I slid in after him and finally Naruto right behind me.

Silence stretched between us as the waiter came to take our order. Naruto ordered fried fish and Jiraiya some sake and rice. I let Naruto order for me—seeing how he was hogging the menu—and he ordered me fried crab. Yum.

Only when the food arrived was the silence broken.

"What a day…" Tsunade muttered. "Seeing old acquaintances everywhere."

Jiraiya drowned his cup of sake. "Orochimaru, you mean."

Naruto munched on his fish and I stabbed at my crab with one chopstick.

Tsunade drowned her own cup of sake.

"What did he want?" Jiraiya asked.

"Nothing. Just wanted to say hello," Tsunade said. She pulled out a deck of cards and began shuffling them.

"That doesn't sound like SPID to me," I said.

The others glanced at me. Shizune blinked and was the first to respond. "Spid?"

"Snake-Pedo-In-Disguise," I clarified. "Nickname I came up from him at the Chūnin Exams when he tried to kill us."

Tsunade gave a snort of drunken laughter. "Snake-pedo, eh?" She placed the deck of cards on the table. "So what do _you_ want from me?"

Jiraiya took the deck, shuffling them as well. "I'll get straight to the point." He placed the cards back on the table. "Tsunade, the village has requested that you become the Fifth Hokage."

Tsunade froze along with Shizune. Naruto choked on a fish and I patted his back. After a moment of tense silence, Tsunade began passing out the cards between her and Jiraiya.

Naruto finally swallowed his fish. I rubbed his back sympathetically. He shot an alarmed and confused look at Jiraiya.

Jiraiya ignored him and picked up his five cards, looking at them. "Have you heard about the Third?"

Tsunade picked up her own cards. "Orochimaru killed him, right? I heard from him directly."

"Orochimaru killed the old man?" Naruto echoed, alarm and anger beginning to show through his voice. "Who is this Orochimaru guy?"

I glanced over at him. "He was disguised as that crazy examinee that tried to kill us."

Naruto paled. "_That_ was him?"

I nodded my head. "He's one of the three Sannin of Konoha."

"So why would he do that? He's from Konoha, right? So why?" Naruto asked, bewildered, his voice rising.

"Who is this kid?" Tsunade muttered, eyeing Naruto with annoyance.

Naruto and I bristled. Before I could defend my son, Jiraiya spoke. "Uzumaki Naruto."

Understanding dawned on Tsunade's face. Naruto's eyes narrowed in anger. "Hold on a minute. You guys have answered my question. Why the hell would Orochimaru kill the old man? And what the hell do you mean _she_ is to become the Hokage?"

At his rising voice, Jiraiya shot him a dark look. Before Jiraiya could do anything however, I placed a hand on Naruto's arm.

"Naruto," I chided. "Calm down."

"But Momma—"

I tugged him back into his seat and he complied with a huff.

I smiled. "Thank you."

"I'll say it again," Jiraiya said. "The village has requested you become the Fifth Hokage. So what is your reply?"

Minutes passed in tense silence. Naruto grumbled in annoyance, his impatient nature getting the better of him. Finally, Tsunade set her cards down. "Not possible. I refuse."

Jiraiya smiled—despite everyone's (with the exception of me) shocked faces. "I remember that line. I asked you to date me long ago. You said the same thing and turned me down."

Naruto, finally recovering, gave a groan of annoyance. "What the hell is going on here? Pervy-Sage you told me we were coming to bring this lady back to the village to heal Sasuke and Kakashi and all of a sudden you ask her to be the Hokage? And she even _refused._ What the hell?"

"Calm yourself, Naruto," Jiraiya drawled, his smiling face replaced once again with a more somber one. "Only Tsunade is capable of being the next Hokage. During the last war, she contributed greatly to the Konoha's victory. Her combat and medical skills are still unrivaled. Also, Tsunade is the First Hokage's granddaughter. Combine that with her abilities, and she is most suited to becoming the Fifth Hokage. If she does become Hokage, she will have to go back to the village and there she can heal the two you mentioned. Also, this is a decision made by the Konoha's highest decision makers—the Elders."

I snorted at that one. Jiraiya shot me a warning look.

Tsunade gave him an amused look. "Your apprentice seems to be ruder, stupider and uglier than the previous one."

"Hey!" Naruto and I exclaimed.

I bristled. "I may have a flat chest and a slightly large forehead but that doesn't mean I'm _ugly._ And I wouldn't say I was stupid either!"

Tsunade raised an eyebrow and frowned. "Not you. I was talking about the brat next to you."

"What the hell?" Naruto shouted.

I snickered and Naruto stuck his tongue out at me. Jiraiya gave us an amused look. "Well it's hard for anyone to beat the Fourth in those fields. His capabilities as a ninja were unrivaled in history. He was talented with techniques, incredibly smart, and popular. He was also handsome like me."

I cackled at that last part and Jiraiya shot me a dirty look.

"But even the Fourth died young," Tsunade muttered. "He threw his life away for the village. Life isn't like money. Only an idiot bets his life so easily." Beside me, Naruto bristled with anger. "My grandfather and the Second wished to end war but they wasted their lives before they could accomplish that."

"You've changed Tsunade. I don't know what you've been thinking, but you put it in words."

Tsunade chuckled dryly. "I'm in my fifties, even if I look like this. Time changes people. Sarutobi-sensei is the same. If an old man tries to act brave, of course he'll die." She sighed. "The title of Hokage is stupid. Only an idiot becomes one."

Naruto apparently had had enough. He leapt from his spot on the table, Jiraiya and I barely managed to grab him in time before he could touch Tsunade.

"Stop," Jiraiya commanded. "This is not the place Naruto."

I sighed. "Naruto, quite struggling."

When he finally did stop struggling, we released him. He stood on the table and glared down at Tsunade darkly. "Anyone who makes fun of the Fourth or the old man—and I don't care if they are a girl—they deserve a punch in the face!"

I face-palmed.

Tsunade stomped one of her feet right up on the table to meet Naruto at eye level. "You've got some guts to say that to me. Step outside, kid."

Jiraiya and I sighed.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Outside of the bar, on the dark and empty streets I patted Naruto on the back. "Naruto, you should rethink this. Despite her appearance she_ is _one of the Sannin."

"I don't care! She deserves what's coming to her for what she said," Naruto growled.

I frowned. "Naruto, I just don't want you getting hurt…"

"I'll be fine, Momma! Now let me do this."

I shook my head and glanced over at Tsunade. "Please be gentle to my son. He may be a rash idiot at times, but damn it he's my rash idiot."

Tsunade snorted. "Aren't you a bit young to have a son?"

"Aren't you a bit old to be so easily baited?" I shot back.

"Sakura," Jiraiya warned.

I sighed. "Fine, Shisho… Tsunade, I'm sorry I wounded your already fragile ego."

Tsunade glowered at me. "You brat, now I see why you didn't deny being rude earlier, just who the hell do you think you are?"

"His overprotective mommy," I sniffed.

Tsunade scoffed and I took that as a victory on my part. Smiling happily I moved to stand beside Jiraiya.

She turned her gaze back to Naruto. "Back to what we started. Seeing how I was one of the Sannin of Konoha there really isn't a need to get serious on a mere Genin."

"What did you say?" Naruto growled.

Tsunade held up one finger. "One finger. One finger will do against you. Come on, little boy."

She motioned him to come over with said finger.

Naruto was now shaking with his anger. He a low voice he muttered. "Don't play with me."

He then charged towards Tsunade, throwing three shuriken at her. She dodged them with ease. In same motion he pulled out a kunai and prepared to jab her in the stomach. With her single finger she deflected the kunai and grabbed hold of it, spinning it out of Naruto's hands before she brought the butt of it up against Naruto's forehead protector. His headband came flying off and he was sent reeling back.

She bent over and brought her single finger in a flicking position right at Naruto's forehead. She flicked Naruto's forehead and he was sent flying backwards, crashing into the ground roughly. He stood up shakily, his eyes filled with annoyance.

Before he could attack her again, his headband and kunai fell to the ground in front of him.

"Oi, brat," Tsunade said. "Let me ask you one thing before you pass out. Why do you care so much about the name Hokage?"

Naruto's annoyance faded away as his gaze slowly hardened. His voice was low when he answered. "Unlike you, I'm going to take on the title Hokage for sure. Hokage… Being Hokage is my dream."

Tsunade's eyes widened briefly as she stared at Naruto. Her posture relaxed as she was lost in her own brief memories. Naruto too this opportunity to attack her with his incomplete Rasengan. Tsunade's eyes widened in shock as she stared at the move. Right before Naruto was about to hit her with his ball of blue chakra, she jabbed her finger into the ground. The ground split underneath her touch, tripping Naruto in the process and canceling the justu.

The cancelation of the jutsucaused a mini explosion in his hands that sent him flying back again. He landed in the crack she had created, effectively getting stuck. He struggled in vain to pull himself out.

I shook my head and moved to pull him out.

"Ouch," Naruto muttered, rubbing his backside.

I snickered. "I'm not healing that for you."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah Momma."

"Jiraiya," Tsunade said sharply. "Are you the one teaching the brat the Rasengan?"

Naruto looked up at the mention of the justu. Jiraiya replied smoothly, "I'm his teacher, after all."

"Heh," Tsunade scoffed. "Only you and the Fourth can use that technique. Are you acting like a teacher and teaching him something he can't master? Don't give him any ideas! That's why this kid likes to daydream that he's going to become the Hokage one day."

Naruto stood up roughly and shouted, "I'm not daydreaming! Idiot! You idiot! I can master this move in three days!"

Tsunade look a bit taken back at his outburst but smirked. "You said it, kid. A man never takes back his words."

Naruto scoffed. "I'm not going to take back my words. That's my ninja way."

"Then let's make a bet."

"A bet?" Naruto asked.

"I'll give you one week. If you can master the move within that time, I'll acknowledge that you can become the Hokage… I'll even give you this necklace," Tsunade pointed to the crystal she wore around her neck.

Shizune looked at her sharply. "Tsunade-sama! That's an important…"

"I don't need a crappy necklace like that," Naruto said, shrugging.

"Don't say that, Naruto," Jiraiya said. "That's a unique crystal which could buy about three mountains if you sold it. It used to belong to the First Hokage."

Immediately Naruto's face lit up and he smiled smugly at Tsunade. "I guess that's fine."

"Okay," Tsunade said, smiling. "But if you can't master the move in a week, you lose. I'll take all your money."

"Eh?" Naruto shouted.

"Hey," I said. "I'd like to get in on this bet too."

Tsunade glanced over at me, raising an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yep. I bet that Naruto can master that move," I said—trying my best not to sound too smug. "If I win, you have to agree to help train me. If I lose, I'll give you all of _my_ money and I'll be your slave for three days."

"I thought Jiraiya was already your teacher," Tsunade said with narrowed eyes.

"I said _help_ train me," I clarified. "I've already begun my studies as a medical nin—I just want help to improve in that area. As much as Jiraiya is a capable teacher, he isn't a medical nin."

Tsunade stared at me a moment before she smiled. "A slave for a _week_ and you have a deal, brat."

I grinned. "Pleasure doing business with you."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

By the time we finally got a room in a hotel, it was way past midnight. I had already dressed out into my red nightgown and was relaxing on my bed. Naruto was about to head into the bathroom to change when the someone knocked at the door.

"Eh?" I murmured tiredly, glancing up at the door.

Naruto frowned and moved towards it. It opened the moment he got near it, revealing it to be Shizune.

"I am sorry for the late night visit," She whispered. "But Naruto-kun, I need to speak privately with you."

Naruto frowned. "I need to get plenty of rest today and train tomorrow. I don't—"

"I'm sorry," She interrupted. "but I don't want you to get the wrong image of Tsunade-sama. Also, I need to tell you about the necklace."

Naruto sighed and stepped aside, allowing her in. In the same motion he rolled his eyes. "Like I care about that old hag."

"Tsunade-sama isn't the person you view her so harshly as. Please don't talk about her like that when you don't know anything about her!" Shizune said sternly. Her last words were shouted and once she said them, she instantly softened. "I'm sorry… I shouted…"

I cleared my throat.

Shizune looked sharply over at me while I stood up from my bed. "I think I'm going to take a walk. Be back in a little bit."

I grabbed my shoes and then slipped out the window, barely catching Naruto's and Shizune's goodbye to me before I was already jumping up on to the roof.

I jumped over to the next roof, shivering slightly as the night wind whipped around me. I cursed myself for not thinking to grab a jacket but didn't really do anything about it. Instead I kept jumping from one roof to the other, searching for that particular front gate.

After a minute or two of jumping, I finally found it. The one where Tsunade sat on top of as she stared down at her precious necklace.

I leapt from the nearest roof to land right before her.

She didn't even look up at me. "What are you doing here?"

"Checking on you," I said simply, sitting down across from her.

At that, she did look up. Her cheeks were flushed a delicate red-tipsy on the verge of drunk, then. Her eyes were slightly glazed over, she still held a guarded curiosity in them. "What do you want?"

"I already told you," I said as I drew in closer to myself in a vain attempt at warming up.

"Why?" She asked bluntly.

"Because I'm not an idiot."

Her eyes narrowed slightly and I shrugged again. "Sometimes it's better to get lost in your memories with someone by your side."

She snorted.

"And sometimes it's easier to talk about your problems with a stranger than it is with a friend," I continued. "Right now I'm a stranger and I think I can be a pretty good listener when I want to be."

She gave a weary smile and looked back down at her necklace, her eyes taken a new light to them.

I eyed her for a moment before I crawled towards her. She stared at me carefully until I reached her. I sat right next to her, leaning against the same stone wall she leaned against. Unconsciously I leaned closer to her, towards the warmth, while at the same time looking away from her.

"You know," I said. "I don't normally do mushy stuff like this. Really, I don't. But I swear, this month has been off for me."

She gave a bitter laugh.

"May I pet your hair?" I asked bluntly, turning back to face her.

She gave me a very unique look. A look I was beginning to get used to.

I shrugged. "You could have just said no."

"No, that's not it... do you ask that question a lot?" Tsunade asked.

"No. This is the first time. Though, I have wanted to ask Duck-Ass that question but if he allowed me to play with his hair I'd be too tempted to spray paint it hot pink or something…"

Tsunade sighed and shook her head.

"So… may I?"

"I don't care," Tsunade muttered.

Taking that as a 'yes', I began to pet her hair. It was surprising soft and smooth.

Silence stretched on to minutes between us and ever so slowly Tsunade relaxed. Her eyes closed and I knew that her mind was once again drifting through memories. I didn't interrupt her, just added what little comfort I could give to her.

"It's funny," Tsunade murmured, "the memories you keep of a dead beloved. How you can laugh at the sad ones, but it's the happy ones that break your heart."

"I don't find it funny at all," I said dryly. "I find incredibly twisted in an ironic sort of way. But that's life and life's a bitch. If it were easy it'd be a slut."

**Or a praise-whore.**

You shut your damn face.

**I don't have a face, idiot.**

I thought I got rid of you…

**Whatever, admit it, you like me. I'm growing on you.**

Like a damn tumor.

Tsunade gave a snort of laughter.

"My son's all fired up for training," I said.

"Your son," Tsunade said blandly. "How in the _hell_ did you get a son?"

I shrugged. "Naruto doesn't have any family—or didn't. I guess I just sort of adopted him. At first he was like my little brother but I figured I might as well step it up a notch and adopt him."

"Why?"

"He's adorable," I said. "I mean, you've seen his face. He has _whiskers_ like a friggin' cat or fox. That's absolutely adorable. Not to mention he has a childish personality and an air of naivety and innocence that makes me want to glomp him _really_ bad. That and I want Hinata to be my daughter-in-law but I can't have that unless I have a son and she loves Naruto so…"

I stopped. "I'm rambling. Sorry. Want me to stop?"

"No. Keep talking. Who's Hinata?"

"Hinata is my bestest of bestest friends," I said. "She's adorable too. But she has daddy issues… But I love her anyway—as a friend, mind you—and she's helped me train since we graduated from the academy."

"Keep talking," Tsunade said quietly, her eyes closing.

"Uh…" I searched my mind for more stuff to talk about. "Duck-Ass is our other comrade. He's the last Uchiha in Konoha. He broods a lot and sulks but at the moment he means well. He's dead set on trying to murder his older brother. His hair looks like a duck's ass so that's why I call him Duck-Ass. I, sadly, used to have a fan girl crush on him while I was in the academy. I feel so ashamed of myself.

"Um… Kakashi is our sensei. He's a pervert. He reads Shisho's books and loves them…"

I trailed off, unsure if she wanted me to continue.

"Continue," She murmured.

I nodded my head and I continued to ramble more about pointless shit. I got the feeling she was only using me as a way to temporarily escape her own memories that threatened to haunt her. I didn't mind though, if that was her way of coping I didn't blame her. I would have done the same.

My voice was horse and my throat was dry by the time the sun finally came up. I was tired as hell and wanted nothing more than to crash. Tsunade must have had the same thoughts because she yawned tiredly before pulling away.

"I should probably head back," I said. "Naruto might have had a mini heart attack when I didn't come back right away. Better make sure he didn't die."

Tsunade gave a wry smile. "Well then… goodnight Sakura."

"Good morning Tsunade-sama."

She rolled her eyes and I stood up, stretching my stiff muscles. I yawned tiredly and jumped down from the gates, putting in what little energy I had left to running back to our hotel room.

I yawned one last time when I climbed in through our window, only to find Naruto was already dressed and ready to go for the day.

"Momma, where have you been?" Naruto demanded.

"Getting lost on the road of life," I muttered sardonically.

Naruto looked horrified. "Don't tell me you're going to start using those lame excuses like Kakashi-sensei."

"Probably."

I collapsed into my bed and pulled the sheets over me. "Goodnight Naruto. See you whenever the hell I bother to wake up."

"Good morning, Momma," Naruto chuckled

I snuggled further into my blankets and slowly, I allowed sleep to take me.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

To Sakura,

Hello. I did not forget about you and it is nice to hear from you.

I am fine. I feel fine. Temari and Kankuro return the greeting.

Return my greeting to Naruto as well, please.

Goodbye.

-Gaara

* * *

_Ahaha... Gaara is so anti-social in the beginning. It's so cute._

_And yes! The special surprise is the Letters With Gaara will be at the beginning and end of _every_ chapter. :D _

_Hmm... **What's Sakura's age?**_

_I designed this Oc to be just a generalized Oc girl falling into the world and swapping bodies with Sakura. Like I said in the beginning this story was for shits and giggles so to be entirely honest I never gave the Oc much thought. I know, I know, how terrible of me. Shame on me, the authoress, for not putting so much thought into my own Oc. Oh well. The average Oc's falling into this world range from 15-29. I'll simply say that Sakura is older than 11 and younger than 30. The rest is up to your lovely imaginations. _

_And yes, I did do a double update as I won't be able to update on Friday or any other day in the week... I quite like the ending of the next chapter. I wonder if that makes me a sadist?_

_Reviews are love._

_See you next Tuesday_


	22. Just Can't Win

_"Eat right, exercise daily, live clean, die anyway." - Anonymous_

_**Disclaimer: **Naruto is Kishimoto's toy. I'm just playing with it._

_**Warning: **Language._

* * *

Dear Gaara,

Just fine? Nothing new or exciting going on in your life? Are you learning any new jutsus? Going through any special training? Have you read any good books lately? Been on any other worthwhile mission? What's your favorite color? Favorite food? Favorite word? Favorite season?

Have you ever been to the Land of Snow? If you have, what did you think of it?

If you could go anywhere in the world—where would it be?

Do you have a goal that you want to reach? A dream?

Curious,

Sakura

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Much to my horror, I had ended up sleeping away the rest of the day. When I woke up, the moon had already risen and Naruto and Jiraiya were nowhere in sight.

I grumbled and muttered under my breath as I slowly sat up.

My stomach let out a very large growl.

I scowled at it. Double damn.

Slowly I stood up and wandered to our packs. Pulling out two energy bars I ripped them open, shoving as much as I could into my mouth.

While I attempted to eat the two whole bars in one bite, I heard the door open slowly. I glanced up saw Jiraiya coming in, yawning tiredly.

"Ooph Heehoo," I grumbled with the food still in my mouth.

He looked at me and shook his head. "Sakura, swallow."

I bit off the bars and swallowed.

"Hello Shisho," I said again.

"Hello Sakura. Glad to see you're finally up."

I snorted. "I'm not. My whole sleeping schedule is going to be off for a few days now."

Jiraiya's lips twitched upwards in an amused smile. "Yes. Well."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm going to grab something to eat and check up on Naruto. See you later."

I stuffed the rest of the bars in my mouth. I then stood up from my pack, grabbed my red hoodie and pulled it over myself before I promptly walked out the door. Only after the door closed behind me did I realize I forgot my shoes.

Damn it.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

The days passed by relatively slowly. Naruto refused to come into the town and get proper rest, pouring his heart and soul into mastering the jutsu. I spent the majority of my time with him, rereading the single medical book I had brought with me to pass the time.

I healed away the majority of his fatigue, for which he thanked me fervently. Though I wasn't much help to him other than that. I only went into the town when it was to grab a change of clothes for him and bring back food. I didn't bother to sleep in the hotel bed, I was quite comfortable up in the tree branch I had found, watching Naruto.

The night before the fated day, I had finally coaxed Naruto into getting proper sleep in the hotel bed. He was very resistant towards it but I scolded him saying I couldn't properly treat his chakra burns if he was going to be so stubborn. He relented after the lecture.

I had tucked him into his bed after he nearly collapsed the moment we entered the room. I might not have been able to get him dressed in his PJs, but I was able to dress his sores properly.

I sat on the edge of his bed when I had finished and found myself lost in my daydreams.

Sadly though, I was pulled from my thoughts later in the night when Shizune and Tsunade walked in. Tsunade and Shizune noticed me before Tsunade glanced at him.

I smiled at her. "He's severely exhausted from over exertion. I'm not very good at healing away chakra fatigue so the best I could do was heal what little damage to his physical body as I could. He has chakra burns as well on his right hand. Though, it took me forever to finally get him in bed. In theory, he shouldn't wake up until the day after tomorrow."

Tsunade stared at him with glazed eyes. In a quiet voice she muttered, "It's just as Jiraiya said. I don't know why I made this ludicrous bet. Why did someone like me get so heated up? I feel so stupid."

"If it makes you feel better, Naruto has a gift for getting people fired up," I said.

Neither of the women responded. So I chose to speak again. "Tomorrow, you shouldn't go."

Both of them tensed and looked at me with narrowed—or in Shizune's case, wide—eyes. I shrugged. "I know things. Let's just keep it at that."

"And what are you going to do if I do?" Tsunade asked, her voice low.

"Me?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "I'm going to be taking care of my son tomorrow, as far as you'll be concerned."

"As far as I'll be concerned?" Tsunade echoed, her voice still dangerously low.

I smiled. "But perhaps I'm not the one you should be concerned with. This conversation obviously pertains between you and Shizune. I just thought I would give you my input."

Tsunade nodded her head and glanced at Shizune. With a nod, the two women filed out of the room.

I sighed when the left and glanced at my son.

Outside I heard a loud thump followed by silence. I sighed again and hopped off the bed. I walked over to the door, opened it up and peered down the hall.

On the floor, unconscious, was Shizune. Tsunade was nowhere in the sight.

I opened the door fully before I walked over to Shizune. I grabbed both her arms and proceeded to drag her into the hotel room. I then pulled her up onto my bed. I glanced over at Naruto and with another sigh I walked out the door, shutting it behind me.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

After a bit of wandering, I finally found Jiraiya, passed out at a ramen stand. I ducked in and smiled at the chef who returned the smile with one of his own.

"Mind if I take him off your hands?" I asked.

The chef laughed. "Please do. I would have never figured a guy this big to be such a light weight for sake."

I snickered. _Actually Tsunade just drugged him but whatever works for you._

I lifted Jiraiya's heavy arm, slinging it over my shoulder. I hefted the big man off the counter. Immediately his weight pulled me down but I forced chakra into my legs, giving me the strength to lift him.

With a heave, I pulled Jiraiya out of the ramen stand and onto the streets. I gritted my teeth at how heavy he was but didn't verbally comment on it. Instead, I pushed as much chakra as I could into the bottom of my feet and kicked off from the ground.

Damn I really shouldn't have done that.

Instead of smoothly flying onto a roof nearby, we kind of zigzagged away from it, his weight pulling me in a different direction and thus forcing us to land painfully into a whole other roof. Or at least it was painful for me. The Sannin was so out of it from the drugs he didn't even stir at the impact.

I cursed under my breath. It was going to be a long walk—roof jumping—back to the hotel room.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Finally, eight bruises, two twisted ankles and a very sore face later; I dumped Jiraiya onto his bed.

I sighed and lifted my hand up to my nose, sending in pulses of soothing chakra. I repeated the process for my ankles and my bruises.

Once I was fully healed I glanced over at Jiraiya before my hands moved into summonings seals.

I summoned Gedo and Doku.

_~Hello again, Sakura-san.~_

_ -You need something brat?-_

I pointed at Jiraiya. "My Shisho has been drugged and I need help coming up with a remedy of sorts for him.

Gedo glanced at him before she and Doku hopped onto the bed, examining him. Doku looked up at me. _-Symptoms?-_

_ ~How was it placed inside his body? Through the air? Injection?~_

I pursed my lips and racked through my memories, trying to recall what Jiraiya had described it as in the show. "Tsunade has placed it in his sake. It was a tasteless, odorless drug. He can't—er, won't—be able to mold chakra properly. His body will be numb and he won't be able to throw kunai correctly."

Doku snorted. _-A sedative of sorts then.-_

I nodded my head. "I need to find an antidote that will either eradicate the drug from his body or at the very least allow him to mold chakra correctly."

Gedo sniffed him. _~That shouldn't be too difficult. Very well, we'll help you.~_

I smiled. "So where do we start?"

_-We? This will be all you. We're just here to help.-_

My smile slipped. "What do you mean?"

_~You're training to be a medical kunoichi, yes, Sakura-san?~_ At my nod, she continued. _~Then you'll be facing other patients in similar situations. You will need to learn to figure out a cure on your own. We'll help you—guide you—and confirm if you are correct or not. But the majority of this must be learned on your own.~_

I sighed. "Damn, I hate it when logic works against me."

Gedo smiled and Doku smirked. I pursed my lips. "Okay… so we know it was a drug that was digested, so it'll be working mostly through his digestive system until it reaches his blood system and chakra system. Odds are by now, all the systems have the drug in them."

When neither denied my assumption, I went on, "I doubt Tsunade had that type of drug handy on her. In fact, I'm nearly positive about it. So more than likely, it was a drug she created while in town using local herbs."

Again, neither denied. "Then it's safe to assume the drug was created with herbs locally. That eliminates most sedatives from the list."

_~What do you mean by that?~_ Gedo's voice was very patient. I felt a twinge of annoyance at being asked to explain my reasoning but I knew she was in the right. She wanted to make sure I reached the conclusion with correct logic and not some random guessing.

"The ground here," I explained, "is too loose, and dry to grow many herbs. I remember because every time Naruto tried to use his Rasengan on the ground, the dirt fell away too quickly and usually obscured his view for a bit. Most sedative herbs—most herbs in general—grow in more firm soil with rich nutrients. This soil here fits neither of these requirements."

Gedo nodded. _~So what are the possibility of the sedative?~_

"Well," I murmured, my mind working into over drive, "if she used herbs here, the odds are they weren't very strong naturally. It had to be a specific combination of the right herbs to create something powerful enough to knock out a Sannin."

_-And what herbs are normally weak on their own, but when mixed properly together are strong?-_

"Winter cherry, friar'rs balsam, bergamot oil, campher oil, chamomile, corydalis, suri-pu," I trailed off, mindlessly listing the sedative herbs that came at the top of my head. There was more of course, but Doku interrupted me.

_-And which ones grow in dry environments?-_

"Suri-pu, chamomile, friar's balsam, valerian, damiana, melissa," I said.

_~And which ones are weak on their own?~_

"Suri-pu, valerian, damiana," I said.

Gedo smiled. _~So what herbs did Tsunade use?~_

I stared at her a moment until my brain finally caught up with my mouth. I smiled widely. "Suri-pu, valerian and damiana."

_-So what would best counter it?-_

I gnawed at the bottom of my lip. "Something digestive as well. Something that should consist of… sage, chives, dill… lemon balm and a very small amount of cloves. But I'm not sure where to find all of those."

Gedo giggled and Doku smirked. _~I can create the antidote for you using the herbs you have listed.~_

"You can?"

_~Of course. It is my duty. I create forms of antidote using various summoned herbs. I can summon the herbs you have suggested and form a liquid antidote for you.~_

I paused. "Is that how you create antidotes? You await for your summoner to give you ingredients and instructions and then you create it?"

_~Yes. Though I know most cures to most poisons by heart—from experience—that is usually how the process works. It is the same with Doku, to some extent.~_

_ -Usually people just tell me what they want done and I go out and create the poison myself-_

I nodded my head. "Alright. Good to know."

I paused again. "I think… I'll go make some tea for Shisho to drink the antidote with."

Gedo and Doku nodded and I moved to make the tea.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

By the time the time I had brought Jiraiya back, decided on the antidote and brewed the tea, the sun was already rising. Naruto was stirring in his bed and by the time I poured a cup of the tea, he was awake and prodding at Shizune.

I set the tea on the nightstand next to Jiraiya. In the same motion, Shizune sat up with a very loud exclamation.

I ignored them, turning to Gedo. Gedo smiled at me and opened her mouth widely. Two fangs—since when do salamanders have fangs?—protruded from her mouth. She hovered both fangs over the tea. A split second passed before a creamy white liquid dripped down from them into the tea.

"That's just nasty," I said, watching her.

Doku rolled his eyes. When she was done, her fangs retracted and I used the spoon to stir in the antidote.

I glanced back over at Shizune and Naruto, seeing they were both eying me and Jiraiya now.

I then promptly bent over Jiraiya and slapped him across the face.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then slowly, his eyes creaked open and he stared at me groggily.

"Saku… ra?" He asked tiredly.

I smiled at him. "Good morning Shisho."

His eyes narrowed as he took in his surroundings. With a grunt, he attempted to sit up. I helped him, propping him against the headboard. I then reached over to the nightstand and grabbed the tea. I moved it up to his lips.

"Drink this, it'll help fight the sedative Tsunade put on you," I said.

Jiraiya gave a numb nod and opened his mouth. Carefully he drank down the whole tea, though some of it spilt and dripped down his chin. I frowned and placed the tea cup down, using my sleeve to wipe the tea that spilled away.

"Damn that Tsunade… putting something in my sake," Jiraiya cursed tiredly. His eyes were hard and his face set. He was beyond irritated.

Naruto huffed. "Totally uncool. You're always bragging about how great a ninja you are. Did she deceive you with some sort of perverted trick, you Pervy-Sage?"

"Shut up!" Jiraiya growled. Naruto scoffed. Jiraiya glared. "She's still a medical specialist, regardless of her current state. Only she can make a tasteless, odorless drug that works against ninjas. I didn't expect her to find an opportunity to poison me, even if I was slightly drunk."

"You shouldn't have underestimated her, Shisho," I scolded lightly. "How are you feeling?"

Jiraiya moved his right arm, flexing his hand. "The majority of my body is still numb, but the feeling is returning. Slowly."

"Can you mold your chakra?" I asked.

He closed his eyes briefly, opening them after a second passed. "Not yet."

I frowned dejectedly.

_~Don't worry Sakura-san.~_ I looked over at Gedo who was smiling at me. _~The antidote you gave him takes time to work. But once he gets moving around and his blood flowing, it'll work twice as fast.~_

I returned her smile. "Thanks Gedo-san."

Turning back to Shizune. "We can go after Tsunade in ten minutes, please give time for Shisho to recover." I looked back at Shisho. "The antidote I gave you works slowly, but the more your blood flows, the faster it'll work."

Jiraiya nodded his head. "Very well then."

Shizune echoed her agreement. Naruto gave a sigh of annoyance. "Why are we going after the old hag in the first place?"

"Because of what they talked about in the first place with Orochimaru," I answered for Naruto. "About a certain deal SPID had offered."

"Deal?" Naruto echoed.

"In exchange for healing SPID's arms… he would bring back her lover and her little brother from the dead."

Silence met the room at my statement. I looked over at Gedo and Doku.

_-We should be going now. We aren't combat types. Later brat.-_

_ ~Good luck, Sakura-sama.~_

They both poofed away.

I closed my eyes, and listened to Shizune as she explained the situation more carefully. We were early. In the anime, the sun was well past up when they moved to confront Tsunade and SPID. It was getting to that point, so we had time to kill.

Not a lot.

But enough.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

As agreed, ten minutes later we headed out to chase after Tsunade. Jiraiya still wasn't up to full speed but the closer we reached to our destination, the more he supposedly felt better. By the time we reached the original destination, all that was left was a fairly large crater and piles of rubble.

Naruto stared at the rubble with wide eyes. "What happened here?"

"Looks like Tsunade-hime got pretty wild here," Jiraiya said casually.

"Then where did Tsunadeobaa-chan go?" Naruto asked as he looked around. He found Tsunade's green gambling jacket.

Tonton sniffed at the jacket.

"Which way, Tonton?" Shizune asked.

Tonton let out a snort before she took off in an eastward direction, out of the city. Shizune grabbed the jacket before the rest of us followed after the tracking pig.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

We had barely arrived in time. Jiraiya threw a smoke bomb down at the ground right when Kabuto nearly reached a stunned Tsunade. The smoke bomb erupted and Kabuto leapt away. We took our chance, jumping into the smoke and forming a sort of shield between Kabuto and Tsunade.

When the smoke cleared, Orochimaru spoke. "It's been a long time, Jiraiya."

Jiraiya gave a grim smile. "You have an evil look in your eyes, as usual."

I looked over at Kabuto and sneered. "Lookie here, Orochimaru's lap dog. If I throw a stick, would you leave?"

Kabuto's eyes narrowed. "I didn't expect to see you here, Sakura-san."

Naruto followed my gaze and gaped at Kabuto. "Kabuto-san? What are you doing here?"

Jiraiya glanced over at us. "So you three know each other?"

"We took the Chūnin Exams together," Naruto said.

I snorted. "_We_ did. _He_ acted as a spy against Konoha."

"What?" Naruto asked with wide eyes.

Kabuto looked at me sharply. "I'll never understand how you discovered my cover so quickly, Sakura-san."

Before I could reply, Tsunade was already on the move. She shoved Jiraiya and me out of the way, swinging her leg to aim a kick at Kabuto. "Out of the way! I'll be the one to defeat them."

He deflected her kick and jumped away. Tsunade was relentless though and pursed after him. Her legs and arms were a blur as she attempted to land a single blow on Kabuto. But Kabuto was just as fast. He dodged each attempt and leapt away from her in the same motion.

Eventually he was pinned against a rock. Tsunade wound up her arm, her hand clenching into a fist. She brought her fist forward in the same motion Kabuto pulled out his kunai and swung.

He sliced his hand.

Blood splattered onto the slug princess and she froze. She stared down in horror at the blood on her.

"I'm finally starting to move normally," Kabuto murmured. "Dealing with two legendary Sannin would have been too much trouble. I'll immobilize one for now."

He put the kunai away and swung his fist, connecting to Tsunade's jaw. Tsunade reeled backwards. Shizune caught her and the two fell to the ground, Tsunade paralyzed by her phobia.

"What's going on? Momma? Why is Kabuto fighting the old hag and..?"

"I told you son," I said. "Kabuto double crossed Konoha for Orochimaru. He's fighting Tsunade on the snake-fucker's behalf. He only helped us out in the first place to gather information."

"Once again Sakura-san, your skills in perception shine through," Kabuto said with a very thin smile. It was a taunting smile.

I didn't like it. I wanted nothing more than bitch punch his face.

"While you might not be a combat type," Kabuto continued, "you have proven to be very useful in tactics. However, Naruto-kun, _you_ have no skills as a shinobi."

Naruto's eyes widened before his face hardened.

"You shut your damn mouth, lap-dog," I snarled. "You have no room to talk."

"Oh?" Kabuto asked, taunting amusement coloring his tone.

"Damn straight. You'll never live up to the man your mother was."

**You've been saving that one up, haven't you?**

Hell yes. Feels so good to finally use that line.

**Sigh. Idiot.**

Kabuto's eyes flashed dangerously before narrowing. "As I was saying, Naruto-kun, you have no talent as a shinobi. Surrounded by the Sannin and your… loose mouthed companion… you're insignificant. You're like a small bug right now, and if you interfere… I'll kill you."

"How would you like to donate a pint of blood through your nose?" I threatened.

"Do not make empty threats, Sakura-san," Kabuto warned lightly.

"When I want your opinion it'll be _after_ I beat it out of you," I shouted, taking a menacing step forward. Naruto quickly grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back, roughly.

My eyes widened in shock and I stared at him. "Don't worry about me Momma. I can defend myself."

My eyes softened and I sighed.

Kabuto took this chance to jump away from the group of us and stand in front of Orochimaru. He rummaged through his back pocket before pulling out a pill. He popped the pill in his mouth.

"Blood replenishing pill," Shizune muttered.

Jiraiya smirked. "So he's truly a medical shinobi."

I sniffed.

Orochimaru bit off the bandages wrapped around his left arm, revealing the purplish color of them.

"So the boss is finally going to fight," Jiraiya commented. He turned back to us. "Shizune, you take care of the guy with the glasses. I'll fight Orochimaru."

"Shisho," I said.

He glanced at me.

"May I fight Kabuto instead?" I asked.

Jiraiya shook his head. "While I know you are capable of defending yourself, this guy is Orochimaru's subordinate. I don't think you are quite ready to fight him."

I bit my bottom lip. "But Shisho—"

"Enough, Sakura. Tend to Tsunade."

I lowered my eyes in defeat. "Yes, Shisho."

"Sakura."

I looked back up.

"You told me the antidote would take affect the more I moved my body. While we had been running for a while earlier—and I did feel better at the time—I still do not feel a hundred percent. How much longer until it takes a full affect?" Jiraiya asked me, his voice low.

I gnawed at the bottom of my lip. "Can you mold chakra?"

"With difficulty."

I let out a slow breath. "Five minutes max if you keep moving."

He gave a nod. "So we'll need a five minute distraction. Very well. Sakura, you may now tend to Tsunade."

"Yes, Shisho," I murmured lowly, moving to kneel beside Tsunade.

"Then what about me?" Naruto asked.

Jiraiya glanced at Naruto. "You guard Sakura and that pig there. When Sakura heals, she won't be able to focus on the environment very well. She'll need your help."

"But I want to fight too," Naruto said.

"_No._ The glasses guy said it, too," Jiraiya snapped, his voice harsh. "You're at a lower level. The enemy is a Sannin like me and he's also the man who killed the Third. You need an eye for an eye. Only I can fight him now. Also, that kid is as strong as Kakashi. Besides, like I said earlier, Sakura needs you now. Are you going to leave her alone?"

I snorted.

Naruto grumbled under his breath but didn't object again.

"Now then, let's get started."

Kabuto smirked, wiping off the blood on his hand and rubbing it against Orochimaru's arm. He summoned two giant ass snakes.

Jiraiya moved his hands into a summoning seal before I stopped him. "Shisho, you aren't at a hundred percent. You won't be able to summon the boss. Don't let them see your handicap yet."

Jiraiya eyed me for a moment before he stopped. I pulled out two of my kunai, tying explosive tags on each one.

Orochimaru had apparently had enough of wasting time. Kabuto and him each took a snake, standing on their heads. The snakes dove down and I made a grab for Tsunade. Wrapping an arm around her waist I kicked off from the ground.

The sounds of the snakes crashing into the ground sounded behind us. We landed a little way from the fight, Tsunade still unresponsive. I looked behind me to see Jiraiya had already summoned his hell swamp. It nearly submerged both snakes, only their heads and the tip of their tails struggled in vain to move.

A little ways from them, Shizune and Kabuto fought on the ground. Naruto wasn't in sight.

**He got eaten by one of the snakes. Again.**

Damn it. I looked down at Tsunade and grimaced.

"Don't move," I warned her. I then kicked off from the ground and rushed towards one of the snakes—I think it was the one where Orochimaru and Jiraiya weren't on. I threw one of my kunai at said snake's nostril. It went flying in.

"Katsu!" I shouted.

The kunai exploded inside the snake's nose. It roared up, its mouth opening to let out a cry of pain. I saw Naruto jump out of the snake's mouth, flying through the air to crash into the ground. I winced at the impact.

I threw my second kunai into the open snake mouth.

The snake's mouth closed and it swung its massive head to glare at me. I smiled.

"Katsu!"

The snake's neck exploded.

A gaping hole of blood and gore dripped down from it as it slowly finished sinking into the summoned swamp.

I looked behind me to see Kabuto nearing Tsunade.

"Aw hell no," I cursed under my breath. I bent down to ankles, tugging down at my boots. Once they were far down enough, I released my weights. I threw them off and they landed with a very loud thud to the ground. I stared at how they left a dent in the ground. I smiled.

I pulled up my sleeves and pulled down my gloves. I threw off my wrist weights.

My body felt incredibly light.

I rushed towards Kabuto. I suppose I moved a lot faster than what I had predicted, because one second I was taking off my weights, the next my leg was swinging out to connect to Kabuto's wrist.

His eyes widened briefly when he saw me.

I sneered.

I swung my body around, bringing my other leg to kick at his elbow. He ducked and leapt away from me. I flipped backwards in the air, landing between Tsunade and him.

"You want her?" I asked. "You have to get through me, lap bitch."

"With pleasure," Kabuto said lowly before he charged, his hand glowing a light blue.

I ducked beneath his hand and leaned forward. My hand whipped out in a fist, preparing to slam against his vulnerable stomach. But I felt a pressure at my back and suddenly Kabuto was out of my sight, the pressure momentarily increasing before disappearing for good. I whirled around to see Kabuto finishing his flip over me.

I charged towards him, resentment churning in my stomach and leaving a bitter taste in my mouth. I nearly punched him but he whirled around at the last moment and deflected my punch. My eyes widened as the same hand he used to deflect the blow, grabbed my wrist.

His feet moved beneath mine, disrupting my balance as he pulled me towards him and I was helpless to stop it. His other hand jabbed forward, glowing a pale blue. He jabbed me in the chest.

This all took place in a mere few seconds. The chakra he sent into me caused my entire body to numb instantly. Fatigue and dizziness washed over me and for a sickening moment I thought I was going to pass out on the spot.

My body shook slightly and my knees weakened. Suddenly both his hands were on my shoulders. He pushed me down sharply in the same instance he brought up his knee.

His knee jabbed into my diaphragm and all the air left me in the most unpleasant way. I retched. One of his hands grabbed me roughly by the back of my hair and swung me back up. The other hand reeled back.

He released his hold on me in the same instant his fist connected to my jaw.

I was sent flying backwards, where I crashed into Tsunade.

I coughed and gagged, still unable to breath from the violent jab that bastard delivered. My body still felt numb and shook, my vision blurred.

What the fuck kind of move was that?

I choked on air for a fleeting second, as I watched helplessly as Kabuto walked towards us, smiling.

"While I commend you for your perceptiveness, Sakura-san," Kabuto said in the same polite voice he always held, "in combat you still remain a useless little girl."

I tried to say 'Fuck you lap dog' but sadly I only ended up wheezing.

"What's wrong? What happened to all that talk?" Kabuto asked, clearly amused.

_The sky will open up and I will _slaughter _you a thousand times over..._ I thought passionately.

"Oh well. I suppose it's time to finish this," Kabuto said, smiling.

_... your intestines will be my jump rope… your skull, my toilet… your heart, a decoration on a pike…_

Kabuto stood before us, bringing back his fist in a punch.

He brought the punch down.

But the punch didn't reach us.

Instead, all he hit was the headband of the best son a momma could ask for. A son, who was pissed off and very determined to kick ass.

You guessed it.

Gaara of the Funk.

No, I'm kidding.

It was Naruto.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

To Sakura,

It has come to my attention by Temari that my last letter might have been too… boring. I apologize if that was the case.

There is nothing worth mentioning happening here. I have not received any special training nor am I learning any new jutsus. I have… however… been researching ways of dealing with the Shukaku. Ever since my fight with him, the thought that perhaps I could control he beast has crossed my mind frequently.

I am still unsure if it is even possible.

There have been no interesting books of late, no mission has been assigned to us since the Chūnin Exams either.

I like the color of red enough. I enjoy salted tongue and gizzard, and I suppose I like the word… future. I have no favorite season.

I have never been to the Land of Snow, I have never even seen snow.

I do not have a goal or dream now. But to be fair, I never had a dream to begin with. I had an existence and that was it. And now, even that has been threatened.

How could I have a dream when I do not even know the point to my life anymore?

And what of you?

-Gaara

* * *

_And Kabuto completely owns her. To be expected, of course. She's only a Genin in power and Chuunin in tactics (at best). Kabuto's on whole other level... Oh well, perhaps her ego will go down a few pegs from this, eh?_

_By the way... the threats she was thinking? Quotes from a very entertaining comic from Oatmeal comics _

_The comic was... _Why I'd Rather Be Punched In The Testicles Than Call Costumer Service.

_And as I said in the chapter before, double updated because I wasn't going to be able to do any updates for the rest of the week. Sorry._

_Reviews are love._

_See you next Tuesday._


	23. Homeward Bound

_"I don't like to commit myself about heaven and hell - you see, I have friends in both places." - Anonymous_

_**Disclaimer: **Naruto is Kishimoto's toy. I'm just playing with it._

_**Warning: **Language._

* * *

Dear Gaara,

My favorite color is red too. My favorite foods are crab and chocolate (not together of course) and my favorite word is scarlet. I love spring and winter.

I guess you could say I've been to the Land of Snow…

Never seen snow? You're certainly missing out on a lot!

Snow is… snow is… Okay. Imagine a white blanket draped across the landscape. Whiteness, as far as the eye could see. The sun would glisten off the white land as heavy clouds would press all around. As you take a first step into the land, the white wonder crunches beneath your feet. Like hard gravel crunching down onto fine sand. And every step you take, you leave behind a single footprint.

You bend down and touch the white substance hugging the ground. But when you do, you find it to be cold and while a handful of it rests in your hands, it slowly melts away into water. But you find, if you don't hold it too long, you can mold the substance into all sorts of beautiful creations. However, before long, the heavy clouds begin to leak more of the white substance.

Falling to the ground like white fluffy specs, spiraling down in a graceful dance to land delicately in the sea of white. They fall in armies, soon covering the landscape with another blanket of it. They stack neatly upon each other, each sharing their chilling temperature.

But still, when you stare at them, at their white purity you can't help but appreciate their beauty. Their beauty in how untainted and untouched they remain to the world, at how pure they stay as the white fluff known as snow.

That… is snow.

It's also a lot of fun to play in. Snowball fights, sledding, drinking hot chocolate by an open fire while wrapped up in a blanket and snuggled in the arms of—

Well!

I have a goal. I guess you could say it's not a very nice goal, but it's a goal nonetheless. I also have a dream—separate from my goal. My dream is that I'll be able to protect those I care about when the time comes.

Your dream can be your reason for existence, Gaara. But it's just a thought, you don't need to confine yourself to one thing. You should exist because you live and you should live because you're _alive._

And besides, I know in time your own dream will present itself. But until it does—and even after it does—I'll be right by your side. Metaphorically of course. I don't know if my team would appreciate it if I moved to Suna on such short notice.

But if you do need me, just let me know and I'll come running. :)

Sincerely yours,

Sakura

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Naruto shook with anger before us.

"Bastard, cut it out already!" Naruto snarled. He pushed Kabuto's fist away and began forming the Rasengan with in his single hand. He leapt forward, shoving the Rasengan towards Kabuto. The bastard looked alarmed at first but recovered quickly.

He smirked, a single hand glowing blue. He leapt forward as well but ducked beneath the Rasengan and jabbed Naruto's back knee. Naruto cringed and fell to the ground, his jutsu fading.

I struggled in vain to move but the numbness Kabuto had spread through my body was too strong. Not to mention I was still out of breath so I couldn't even curse him out properly. Naruto sat up slowly and cringed again.

Kabuto eyed him in amusement. "It seems like your thighbone is cracked from the battle with the snake. But then again, you could still move with just a bone injury. But you can't anymore. I cut your rights leg's vastus letarlis."

He chuckled. "Are you afraid of me? Do you want to run away from here?"

Beneath me, Tsunade continued to shake.

"Naruto-kun, you said this during the Chūnin Exam, right? 'Screw you! I'm not going to run away! I'll take this shit. Even if I stay a Genin forever, I'm going to become a Hokage no matter what! So I don't give a shit. I'm not scared.' Can you say the same thing right now?"

Naruto looked taken back at his words from the first test at the Chuunin Exams thrown right back at his face. Kabuto continued to smile. "You're not a kid anymore, so you shouldn't act like one. Give up if the situation calls for it, and run away when you need to."

Naruto glowered at him, his eyes hardening with utter determination and resentment. Kabuto chuckled again. "Hey now… What's with those eyes? You're going to die. If you die, your dream won't come true. Kids think everything is easy."

Kabuto slowly walked towards Naruto. "That's why they feel no shame in having stupid dreams. You're going to chase after a stupid dream and die."

My breath finally returned. But my lunges felt heavy and filled with water. My chest felt weighed down and my entire body remained numb. Kabuto must have sent his chakra into my heart and my heart must have pumped the damn thing through my entire body.

Naruto shook as he struggled to stand up. "Damn it… I'm not going to take back my word. That's my ninja way."

Kabuto's hand flared blue with chakra. "You should've just stayed out of this."

He swung his hand down across Naruto's neck, knocking my son towards us.

I felt a blaze of anger and resentment like never before spike through me towards Kabuto. I _really_ wanted to kill him. I wanted to smash his stupid little skull against the ground over and over until there was nothing left. I wanted to kick him in the stomach and rip out his guts then—

"Why…" Tsunade whispered hoarsely.

Naruto shook as he tried to sit up. Shuddering from the fatigue, he weakly stood up. "Tsunadeobaa-chan..."

"Still going to fight?" Kabuto asked with a sneer.

Naruto's hands moved into the familiar seal of his shadow clones. "I'm going… to take that unlucky necklace that you promised in the bet."

He summoned a single shadow clone.

"Stop it already! Don't protect me, Naruto. Take Sakura and _go,_" Tsunade said.

Kabuto's sneer faded, replaced only with a hardened expression. He pulled out a kunai. "I said that when you become stubborn like that, you die. When you die, you lose everything, including your dream!"

He rushed forward.

Naruto stayed still. "I'm fine."

Kabuto swung the kunai towards Naruto. Naruto grabbed it, the kunai slicing his hand in the process. Naruto continued forward and gripped Kabuto's hand tightly. "Until…"

He held up his other hand towards his clone. "Until I become Hokage, _I won't die._"

Kabuto struggled to break free from Naruto's grip. Naruto smirked. "Tch. Now you can't run. Eat this."

With his free hand, he began to form the complete Rasengan with the help of his shadow clone.

"He used the shadow clone to recreate a hand to hold in the chakra," Tsunade said, amazement tinting her voice.

Naruto jabbed the complete Rasengan into Kabuto's stomach. The Rasengan flared brightly before sending Kabuto flying through the air at a remarkable speed before finally crashing into a boulder and completely destroying the boulder.

Naruto stood panting, staring at his work before he gasped. Kabuto shakily stood up, a chakra burnt hole in his stomach. Naruto coughed up blood from over exertion before he collapsed.

Tsunade picked me up and carried me over to Naruto. She sat me next him before she kneeled before him.

She looked over at Kabuto. "You were hit with that move and yet…"

He chuckled. "I reinforced my stomach with chakra and began healing myself before I was even hit with that technique." I watched with slit eyes as his burn slowly began to mend itself on its own. "The reason Orochimaru likes me is not my superior abilities nor is it my talent for techniques. It's my overwhelming healing power, my ability to induce my cells to generate new ones."

Kabuto took a shaky step forward. "It looks like this technique was Naruto-kun's last gamble, but…"

He took another step forward before his eyes widened and he fell to his knees. He gave a sort of shocked choking sound before he fell flat on his face.

Naruto twitched beside me and my eyes flickered towards him. Tsunade frowned and quickly placed her head on his chest. After a moment she lifted her head, her eyes wide.

"He's showing signs of arrhythmia," She said quickly at my questioning gaze. My eyes widened. She unzipped his orange jacket and placed her hands over his chest. "Damn it! His cardiac muscles are a total mess. But how?"

_When Kabuto jabbed him of course… waaayyy back then. _Tsunade withdrew her hands and placed two single fingers on Naruto's chest. Her fingers slid down, cutting open his shirt. She then placed both her hands on his chest. Her hands began to glow the familiar green to signify her healing.

Her hands shook and her eyes watered over. For a flash I felt a panic bubble in me but I tried to shove it down. Tsunade would heal him. She would.

My chest tightened—physically—and I let out a gurgle cough.

Her eyes flickered towards me. I gave her what I hoped to be a reassuring smile. I guess it was, because her eyes flickered back to Naruto. A split second passed before Naruto's eyes creaked open. In a raspy voice he said, "I won… the bet."

His hand shakily reached up and grabbed the necklace Tsunade wore. His hand dropped down and his eyes closed as he slipped off into a dreamless sleep.

Tsunade's eyes softened as she stared at him. "'Because becoming Hokage is my dream', eh?"

She pulled the necklace off her and placed it on Naruto. She glanced over at me before she move to kneel beside me. She placed a cool hand over my forehead. She frowned.

"All of your muscles have laxed; including your heart," She whispered, her voice tight with worry. She placed a hand over my chest.

I gave a half assed snort. She returned it with a small smile. "Don't worry it should be easy enough to fix though…"

I raised a tired eyebrow with much effort.

"You'll need to be unconscious," She explained. "If I attempt to restore and reimburse your muscles while you're conscious you'll spasm and be in incredible pain. At least while you're unconscious, you won't be in pain and I can safely secure you without much worry."

I snorted again.

Her smile curved into a taunting smirk. "Sorry. I suppose you'll be missing out on quite a battle. Don't worry though I'll kick… SPID's ass extra hard for you."

I smiled.

She moved her hand up to my forehead and all I saw was darkness.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

When I awoke, I felt incredibly groggy but otherwise than that I was okay.

I yawned loudly and blinked my eyes open. I heard the movement of feet before I felt the—bed?—shift as more weight pressed on it. My eyes moved around, taking in the fact I was back in the hotel room, and that Naruto had just sat down beside me. He grinned largely.

"Morning, Mama!" He greeted.

"Morning adorable son of mine," I replied with a small smile. I yawned and slowly sat up.

Jiraiya had paused in his packing to give me a grin. "Well, well, glad to see you're up Sakura. One of us would have had to carry you if you slept any longer."

"We leaving?" I asked, moving my hand to rub the sleep out of my eyes.

"Yep. We're meeting Tsunadeobaa-chan outside and then we're going to head home. Did you know she decided to become the Fifth Hokage? Hmph." Naruto shook his head.

"Mn," I mumbled, swinging my legs out of bed and hopping onto the floor.

Naruto hopped off the bed and grabbed a small backpack before holding it out to me. "Here Momma, I already packed it for you."

"Thanks Naruto," I said with a smile as I swung it over my shoulders. I felt a wave of dizziness wash over me but it quickly faded.

I looked up at Jiraiya. "Ready whenever you are, Shisho."

His grin turned into a chuckle and he swung his own pack over his shoulder. "Then let's head out."

I nodded my head and turned to follow him, Naruto right behind me.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

While Jiraiya checked us out, I stood in front of Tsunade, smiling smugly. "So I won the bet."

Tsunade gave me an amused smirk. "Yes you did. A deal is a deal. I'll help train you."

I gave a huge grin.

"Excellent! We can discuss training later though," I said as I saw Jiraiya exit the building. "We have a village to get back to."

Naruto grinned alongside me.

Tsunade smiled and ruffled my hair affectionately. I stuck my tongue out at her but didn't object to it any further. Shizune gave me a smile and I looked at Jiraiya. He gave a nod and then we finally headed out.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

To Sakura,

I wouldn't mind seeing snow now. I think I shall take a request mission just to see this snow for myself.

How is Naruto? How are you?

-Gaara

* * *

_Short chapter is short ergo I will update sooner (Thurs or Friday, not sure)._

_Reviews are love._

_See you soon._


	24. Catching Up

_"Homework and I have been engaged in an epic fight to end all epic fights... sadly I fear Homework is winning." -Anonymous_

_**Disclaimer: **Naruto is Kishimoto's toy. I'm just playing with it._

_**Warning: **Language._

* * *

Dear Gaara,

Naruto is fine. ;) I've adopted him as my son now. He's too cute not to adopt.

I'm alright. I guess I'm a little anxious to get back to the village though. We'll be there soon enough but…

Did you miss the desert when you stayed at Konoha the exams?

-Getting homesick,

Sakura

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

I sat beside Duck-Ass, watching as he slept peacefully in his hospital bed. We had returned to the village yesterday, late at night and I had bid everyone goodnight before rushing home and collapsing onto my bed. The next morning I got up, got dressed, bought two flowers from Ino's shop and now currently sat beside his bed.

I was waiting for Tsunade.

Now, normally I would have wanted to be at Kakashi's side but Tsunade chose to heal Sasuke first—much to my displeasure.

Another ten minutes ticked by slowly until Tsunade entered the room.

"Sakura," She greeted me with a smile. "Oh, how it's been so long."

"Far too long," I sighed dramatically. "I thought for sure my heart would break at the loneliness."

"Momma, it's still too early for sarcasm," Naruto said with a yawn as he entered the room.

"Your ridiculous statement has been noted," I said dismissively. Naruto stuck his tongue out at me.

I looked up at Tsunade. "So… this is Duck-Ass."

She eyed him, her lips twitching upwards. "The… broody idiot with the hair that looks like a chicken's butt?"

"You were actually paying attention to my ramblings?" I asked, my eyebrows raised.

Tsunade chuckled. "Someone had to."

She walked forward, Shizune right behind her. Shizune gave me a soft smile and I returned it with a cheery one.

Tsunade slowly lifted a hand towards him.

"Wait," I said quickly. "I want to do something."

She raised an eyebrow but complied. I pulled off my hoodie, turning it inside out so the black side was showing. I then pulled it back on. I crawled into bed with Sasuke and leaned over him. I turned to Naruto. "Turn the lights off and shut the curtains."

Naruto gave me a curious look but complied—he even shut the door, 'atta boy. I then pulled my hoodie up in the nearly dark room, being sure to shadow my face.

I leaned over Sasuke's face before I nodded towards Tsunade. She eyed me warily before she placed a hand on Sasuke's forehead. Her hand glowed a dull green in the dim room.

A few seconds passed and her hand retracted. Sasuke's eyes slowly creaked open, he stared groggily up at my shadowed face.

In a low, graveled voice I said, "I have come for your soul, Duck-Ass."

He gave a startled shout and nearly threw me off the bed. I lost my face and began to laugh—loudly. Naruto was laughing right alongside me. Even Shizune was giggling quietly. Tsunade shook her head but she was chuckling too. Somehow among the chaos of laughter Naruto flipped the lights back on.

I chortled and clutched my sides, my hood thrown back. Sasuke glowered at me. "You…"

"Y-Yes, Duck-Ass?" I giggled.

He bristled. "Flat-Chest."

I stopped laughing. As did the others. Naruto gaped at him.

I stared at him for another moment before I erupted into giggles again. "Nice one, Duck-Ass. I _am_ flat. Flat as a friggin' ten year old boy. It's sad, really, it is. I could probably pass for a guy if it wasn't for my hair."

He stared at me another moment before he rolled his eyes, the barest hint of a smirk on his face. "Probably, Flat-Chest."

I grinned at him good naturedly. I then glanced over at his nightstand and picked up the flower I bought for him. I placed the begonia's on his lap and he touched the waxy petals.

"Eh, good to have you back, Teme," Naruto said with a grin.

Sasuke gave a small smirk. "Hn."

I looked over at Tsunade. "Ready for the next one?"

"Lead the way," Tsunade replied.

I leaned forward and patted Sasuke on the head. "We're off to visit Kakashi-sensei. Wanna tag along?"

Sasuke shook his head. "No… I'll stay here for a little while… I want to think over a few things."

I shrugged and hopped off the bed. "Alright. I'll come back afterwards. Later Duck-Ass."

"Bye… Flat-Chest. Dobe."

Naruto stuck his tongue out at Sasuke again before he grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the room. Tsunade and Shizune followed behind us, both amused.

We entered Kakashi's room and I immediately jumped onto his bed. He was laying down and staring into space, lost to the madness of the genjutsu placed over him. I kneeled beside him on the bed and looked at Tsunade as she walked to his side. Naruto stood at the edge of the bed, peering down at Kakashi.

Tsunade placed a hand over his forehead. It glowed green and held steady for a minute before she pulled away.

Slowly, Kakashi sat up. I quickly glomped him, my arms wrapping around his waist and my head resting on his chest. "Yay! Kakashi-sensei."

Now I can be praised again!

**Praise-whore!**

Tsunade laughed in amusement. Naruto shook his head but he was smiling. I felt a tentative arm wrap around my upper back as Kakashi gave me a one-armed hug in return.

"Welcome back Kakashi-sensei," I greeted him. I pulled out of his embrace and grinned at him.

He stared blankly at me.

I inwardly winced but I pulled out the flower I had brought for him—a violet chrysanthemum. I took his free hand and placed it in.

His hand closed slowly around it but he made no other move or sound.

"Eh? Why is Kakashi-sensei so quiet?" Naruto asked.

I hugged my favorite sensei again. "Because Itachi was particularly sadistic towards him in the genjutsu and he's still recovering."

"Oh," Naruto said. "Ah… well that's everyone Tsunadeobaa-chan. Thanks."

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Shizune, we're leaving. And Sakura… don't forget to talk to me later about training."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama," Shizune replied, following the Hokage out of the room. Naruto grinned at me.

"Yes Tsunade-sama," I chirped. "Bye-bye."

"Eh, I promised Iruka-sensei I would meet him later for ramen, I'll see you around Momma."

"Bye-bye," I told Naruto as he left the room.

I looked up at Kakashi and patted his head. I moved so I could sit beside him on the bed. "We had an eventful trip."

He glanced at me. "Oh?"

"Yep," I said. "I'll drag Duck-Ass in here and explain the whole thing to both of you but first…"

I rummaged through my back pocket before I found what I was looking for. I pulled out a slim, beaten down book and placed it in Kakashi's lap. He stared at it, his eyes widening.

"Is this…?" He asked.

"Yep," I hummed. "One of the three stories that Jiraiya never officially published. Because I am such a favorite student of his, he allowed me to loan it to you as a favor. So… here's one of the rare pervy books you love so much that no one else but you gets to read. You're welcome."

He looked at me. He then patted me on the head. "Bless you."

I giggled, beaming at the praise.

**You disgust me.**

SHUT YER FACE! IT. HAS. BEEN. OVER. A. _MONTH_. SINCE. I. WAS. LAST. PRAISED. SHUT. YER. DAMN. FACE. OR. I. SWEAR. I. WILL. _END YOU._

**…**

I inwardly smirked in victory.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"So…" I stared down at Tsunade in her still being remade office. There were boxes stacked everywhere and the room was still un-fished overall. She raised an eyebrow from where she sat—on a chair in front of the large desk.

"So?" She prompted.

"Training," I clarified. "I would like assistance in medical training."

"Alright. What do you know already?" She asked me.

"I can heal tissues, muscle damage and fatigue in most areas. I can't heal anything disrupting the chakra system, chakra fatigue and broken bones are pretty much out of the question," I explained.

She smiled dryly. "I'm just happy you know the basics at least. More than that. That'll make things easier. You have tissue down, you say?"

"Yep."

"Then the next step would be bones, followed by the systems then the chakra network and chakra damage," Tsunade said.

"Oops, forgot about the systems," I said sheepishly.

Tsunade waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. "Bones are relatively easy. They require the same basics as tissues. The only difference is they're stubborn assholes."

I raised an eyebrow.

She scowled down at the bottle of sake in her hands. "They're completely stubborn and refuse to bend to anyone. Even if that someone is trying to help them. It's completely annoying. There are times, Sakura, when you are healing a broken bone that you just want to rip that bone out and kick its ass just because it decided it wants to mend _that_ way not _this _way."

She paused in her ranting to take a swig of the sake.

"And then by the time you realize the bone went rebellious on you, you're nearly finished so naturally you have undo your work and the patient starts screaming in agony and cursing all sorts of nice words and wussing out. Pfft. Like they can't handle a little broken bone pain… babies, all of them, I swear. By the time you finally finish the work, your chakra's been used up twice as much as it normally should have, you feel beyond irritated and the ungrateful patient is still cursing at you…"

She sighed.

"Are you intoxicated?" I asked bluntly.

She scowled at me. "Would that make a difference?"

I paused, thinking about it. "No. Not really. So how do I heal a bone?"

She snorted and took another swig. "First you have to form a sort of brace with your chakra over the bone. Something to guide the healing process along. This is very important because that bone—whichever bone—will refuse and fight the healing process the entire way. You cannot allow it win or else you'll end up doing more harm than good."

Another swig. "Then you have to use your chakra to sort of infuse the cells in broken bone together. Knit it up, stitch it I suppose. Like you do for skin. This is a very long process as most broken bones don't have enough cells naturally to safely 'stitch up'. This is why even with medical treatment it can take a week or so to heal a broken bone. We need to wait and let the body replenish the nutrients and cells on its own. However…"

Yet another swig. "If you're really good you can just convert your chakra into cells but it's risky."

Big swig there. "Anyway… Hairline fractures can usually be mended quickly on the battlefield, it's the serious breaks that require over time treatment."

Final swig here before finding the sake was empty. She frowned disdainfully. "Well. That's pretty much all I can explain about healing bones. You can't really learn much in the medical field without trying it out yourself. If you have any questions though, don't hesitate to ask. Come to the hospitals on weekends and I'm sure I'll be able to find some test subjects for you... I mean, willing vic-I mean, _patients_. There we go."

I smiled. "Alright. Thanks Tsunade-sama."

She shrugged. "Don't thank me… actually, thank me. Now bring me more sake as thanks."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

The next day I had nothing planned so I had decided to check up on Hinata. Last time I saw her she told me she was going to have a battle with her younger sister and whatnot. So around dawn—because my internal clock now officially prevents me from sleeping in—I pulled on some clothes and headed out.

The streets were pretty quiet, but that was to be expected. It was dawn and the sun was just barely rising. I jogged through the streets, humming a song under my breath.

When I reached the Hyūga Estate, I knocked on the front gates.

A few seconds passed before a guard appeared atop of the gates.

"Yo," I greeted. "I'm a friend of Hina-chan, can I speak to her?"

His eyes narrowed and I sighed. "Sakura. Haruno Sakura."

He frowned but gave a nod of his head before disappearing in a poof.

Several minutes later, the gates opened and out stepped Hinata. She smiled at me softly.

"Hina-chan!" I cheered before I quickly glomped her.

"Sakura-chan," She said quietly, still smiling. "I-I am glad to see you are back."

"Me too!" I said with a laugh. "Oh, I didn't wake you did I?"

She shook her head. "I am normally a-awake at this time."

I gave a nod. "So do you wanna grab some breakfast? My treat."

She giggled. "That w-would be wonderful, Sakura-chan."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

One cheesy ham omelet sat in front of me with a cup of warm sweet tea. Hinata had a plate of cinnamon rolls with her own warm tea. I split my chopsticks and took a big bite of the yummy cheesy egg.

"So Hinata," I said after swallowing. "How was your fight with Hanabi?"

Hinata gave me a small smile. "I-It was a tie."

My eyes lit up. "Congratulations! Your dad must be very proud of you."

"S-Sort of," Hinata said softly.

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"He… He's still upset th-that I didn't become a Chūnin…"

"Screw him then," I said promptly. "So training… are we still going to meet up?"

Hinata frowned delicately. "I-I'm sorry S-Sakura-chan. E-Ever since the exams Father has a-asked me to train w-with him and Neji-nii-san."

I tried not to feel too dejected but I couldn't help the stab of disappointment in my stomach. "Oh. I'm happy for you two."

Hinata gave me a sad smile. "I'm s-sorry Sakura-chan. It feels wrong to abandon you like th-this after everything y-you've done for me."

I waved my hand in a dismissive gesture. "It's no biggie. I'll just have to hound Shisho for more jutsus and shit." _Which reminds me… he still owes me a new jutsu for telling him about Itachi's black fire. _

I paused. "Pardon my language."

Hinata giggled. "Since when d-do you care about your language, Sakura-chan?"

I shrugged but smiled. "Then forget the pardon."

She giggled again. "S-So how was your journey w-with Naruto-kun?"

"Ah," I hummed. "About that… I've adopted him as a son."

Her eyebrows rose. "Wh-What?"

"I mean," I drawled, "that instead of comrades, we are now mother and son. Meaning if you two get married, I would be your mother in law."

Her face lit up a bright red. "M-Married…? N-N-Naruto-kun a-and m-me…?"

Her bottom lip quivered and then her eyes rolled back. She slumped her in her seat. I stared at her.

"Damn. She fainted already?" I muttered to myself.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

After paying for our meals, I piggybacked Hinata through the village back to her estate. She hadn't woken up yet so I was left wandering through my thoughts… or more specifically stuck talking to Inner.

**She faints, way too easily when it comes to Naruto.**

I know. That might complicate things in their relationship.

** No. Really?**

Hey, I'm the only one allowed to use sarcasm in this relationship.

**Whatever. You've lost all say in this relationship.**

What? When the hell did that happen?

**When you lost to **_**Kabuto.**_** Terribly. Like awfully. Really, it was sad how that battle was completely one-sided. All that talk for nothing.**

…

Suddenly my mood turned incredibly sour.

I lost to Kabuto.

**That's what I said, isn't it?**

_I lost to Kabuto._

**Terribly.**

Was this how Sasuke felt when Itachi kicked his ass?

**Oh?**

At this point Sasuke hates Itachi and I hate Kabuto with a burning passion and… we both got our asses kicked by those we hate. How humiliating.

**Very. You should feel ashamed of yourself.**

My mood was quickly spiraling down.

We finally reached Hinata's home. I kicked at the front gates, seeing how my arms were busy holding Hinata. A moment passed before the same guard appeared. His eyes widened when he saw Hinata.

"She fainted," I told him.

He nodded, hopping down to the ground and taking her off my back.

Once she was safely in his arms I began walking away. My feet doing the leading.

_I lost to Kabuto. All that talk and I was defeated like a damn fly._

I sighed wearily.

**Yeah well, what did you expect? Kabuto becomes one of the main antagonists of the series, it would be like you fighting Tobi.**

Don't compare that bastard to someone as amazing as Tobi.

**Oh whatever. You get my point.**

So? I just thought maybe I could at least… I don't know bitch punch him or something.

**Don't get a bloated head, you're not worth it.**

Why do I have such a nasty Inner?

**Because if you didn't you would get too high and mighty of yourself. You need me to bring you back down to reality.**

You don't have to be so nasty about it though…

**Hmph. Whatever.**

I lost to Kabuto…

**Ah, back to that I see. You're starting to sound like a broken record.**

But I did. I lost to _Kabuto._

**Yes. And?**

And… And I failed.

**Did you expect to win?**

I expected an epic battle at least.

**But did you **_**honestly**_** expect to win?**

No…

**So why the hell are you so upset? Yeah you lost to lap-dog, but really, you didn't expect anything different.**

I expected a battle in which I could still hold onto my dignity…

**Too bad. This is reality, you don't always get what you want.**

It still stings…

**Boo-hoo.**

You're not helping.

**Am too. Look where I lead you.**

I paused, pulling out of my thoughts and blinking. I looked around at my surroundings, noting none of it was specifically familiar. It would seem during my sulk, my subconscious—otherwise known as my nasty Inner—had directed my body.

Where the hell was I?

**Look in front of you dumbass.**

I scowled slightly but did as ordered. I was standing in front of a compound of sorts. The gates were shut firmly and the stone walls were high. I couldn't see anything past it.

Okay. What is it?

**Just knock on the damn door.**

I rolled my eyes but did as ordered (again). For a minute, nothing happened until finally the door creaked open, revealing a very annoyed Sasuke.

I stared at him. "Duck-Ass?"

His annoyance vanished, replaced with mild curiosity. "Flat-Chest, what are you doing here?"

I blinked. What was I doing here?

**To talk.**

"To… talk?" I said hesitantly.

His eyes narrowed. "About?"

**Just ask to come in for some tea.**

"Uh…" I said intelligently. "May I come in for tea?"

He eyed me a moment, as if debating on the decision. I guess he decided it was alright because he gave a brief nod before opening the doors and allowing me in.

Neither of us said a word as he lead me through the eerily quiet compound to the main house. He said nothing as I took a seat at the kitchen table while he began brewing tea. The silence was a little unnerving but I tried my best not to let it show. Only when we both had a cup of tea in front of us did he break the silence.

"So what did you want to talk about?" He asked again.

What _did_ I want to talk about?

Getting no reply from Inner, I decided to venture on my own. "I wanted to check up on how you were doing."

"Sore, but I'm fine," He said shortly.

I raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

His eyes narrowed. "Really."

"Because I know I wouldn't be fine if I got my—" My eyes widened. Ah… so _that's_ why I'm here. Damn, my Inner had a sweet side. Go figure.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at my cut off. I tried again, "So you know I went with Naruto on a journey."

"You told me," Sasuke said flatly.

"Right," I muttered, looking down at my tea. "But I left out the part about who kicked my ass."

"Naruto mentioned it was Kabuto."

I gave a mute nod. "Kabuto—the guy I wanted to kill."

His eyes widened briefly. "You mean to tell me the guy you wanted to kill was at the Exams and you did _nothing?_"

"What was I supposed to do?" I snapped. "I might hate him but I'm not so much of a fool to take on someone of his level while I was only at that level… Not to mention I didn't want to get you guys involved."

"What makes you think we would have gotten involved?" Sasuke asked.

"Maybe not you," I admitted. "You know what it's like to want to do something solo—but Naruto, definitely."

He snorted. "That's true. Why do you want to kill Kabuto?"

I closed my eyes and let out a sigh. "He's… he pretty much desecrated some very important people to me and he's a threat to those I hold close."

"Desecrated?" Sasuke echoed. "… I see. No offense, Sakura. But I didn't know you had anyone important to you outside your mom and dad."

I gave a wary smile, opening my eyes. Sasuke was studying me. "Not many people tend to look underneath the underneath. You'll only ever see the side of me I want you to see, same with everyone else."

I took a sip of my tea. "I guess… I originally came over here to get that off my chest. You're kind of the only one I know that could understand… Kakashi might, but I'm not sure."

Sasuke nodded once. "Yeah…"

A moment passed. I glanced at him. "Do you… do you want to talk about…?"

He closed his eyes and shook his head. "…Not now."

Uneasy silence fell between us. He opened his eyes and sighed. "But… maybe later."

I smiled and took another sip of my tea.

Silence fell once again, only this time it was a comfortable one.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

It was midafternoon by the time I left Sasuke's… _home_, and by the time I managed to find Kakashi. It wasn't that it was difficult _finding_ him, so much as it was just a really long walk from the Uchiha Compound to the KIA Stone.

"Kakashi-sensei," I greeted him. He tore his gaze away from the stone to look at me. Mild surprise showing in his eye.

"Sakura-kun," Kakashi said. "I wasn't expecting you here."

I shrugged. "I was looking for you."

His eye crinkled into Oh?-Is-that-so? I grinned.

"And how may I help you?" Kakashi asked.

"I lost my weights," I admitted with a sheepish grin. "I took them off in the fight but it seems no one remembered to pick them back up."

"You don't say," Kakashi murmured. "Well I suppose I should show you where the store is where I found them. Follow me."

I gave a nod. Kakashi spared the rock one last look, seeming to be almost hesitant in leaving. But he still pulled away and began to walk ahead of me.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"What do you mean you don't have any more?" I asked incredulously.

The store owner gave me a sheepish smile. Beside me, Kakashi leaned against the counter, idly reading one of his dirty books.

"Your sensei bought the last pair I had your size," He explained. "I'm sorry but I don't have any more and I won't for quite some time."

I sighed. "Damn it."

"But," The shop owner continued, "I do have a regular who comes in—he bought a set of weights, one in every size. I'm sure if you talked to him he'd be more than happy to give you a pair."

I grinned. "Great. Who was it?"

"I, uh, believe his name was Gai…"

I deadpanned. "Spandex?"

Shop owner merely smiled.

I turned to Kakashi, my face twisting into a pleading look. "Kakashi-sensei, have I mentioned you are my most _favorite_ person in the whole wide world? Really. You're so strong and _nice_ and _such_ a good teacher…"

His eye crinkled. It was something akin to a very smug look. "And what perhaps, does my _favorite_ student want from me?"

"Talk to Gai for me?" I asked.

"No," He said, his eye crinkled, showing he was indeed smiling happily behind his damn mask.

I scowled. "I thought I was your favorite student."

"I lied. It's Naruto."

"Bullshit."

"You caught me."

"Please talk to Gai? _Please?_"

"Why can't you?"

"He's too… energetic for me… I can't… handle his youthful spirit?"

"Yes you can; I believe in you."

"Bullshit."

"You can talk to Gai in the morning. I think he gets up around four…"

"Don't do this to me. I brought you that book."

"You leave the book out of this."

"I won't bring you anymore if you're going to be so stubborn."

"You wouldn't dare. I'm your favorite teacher."

"I lied. It's Jiraiya."

"…Damn. Fine. I'll drop off the weights—if he has them—sometime tomorrow morning."

"So I'll see you in the afternoon?"

"Yes. Good day, Sakura."

"Bye sensei… Thank you."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

To Sakura,

You adopted Naruto.

Why? I did not even know this could be done; I had thought you were too young.

I do not think I have ever missed the desert. I always carry around a part of it with me.

I have seen other children play with each other—refer to each other as friends. Do you have friends like those?

Gaara

* * *

_Flat-Chest vs Duck-Ass. Who will win?_

_Don't answer that. Not yet anyway. Sakura's still training. They're both still training and Sakura hasn't reached her... **speciality** yet._

_I think I'll be the first person to have Sakura with this sort of **speciality**. At least I've never read a fanfiction about it. Hmm..._

_Reviews are love._

_See you Tuesday/Friday._


	25. Land of Tea

_"80% of the final exam will be based on the one lecture you missed and the one book you didn't read." - Anonymous_

_**Disclaimer: **Naruto is Kishimoto's toy. I'm just playing with it._

_**Warning: **Language._

* * *

Dear Gaara,

Those are normal kids having normal friends. Otherwise known as _boring_ friends. No Gaara. I do not have a single normal friend.

That being said, I _do_ have friends. Naruto, Kakashi, Hinata, Ino, Duck-Ass, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shizune (maybe), Lee… and you. I think you're one of my favorite friends.

Am I your friend?

… And I did not 'legally' adopt Naruto. But I assure you; he _is_ my son.

Newly mother,

Sakura

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

It's been a couple days since I had talked to Hinata, Duck-Ass and Kakashi. A couple boring days to be completely honest. We weren't able to do any team training since Kakashi was so busy with Jōnin missions. And Jiraiya seemed to have skipped town (again) without telling me (_damn it!_). So team 7 has pretty much just been relaxing.

So boring.

Or so I had kept musing to myself until the three of us—Naruto, Sasuke and I—were called into Tsunade's office for a new mission.

Naruto stood in the middle, completely pumped about finally getting a mission. I stood to his right, admiring the new weights Gai had given me through Kakashi. They were comfortably tight against my wrists and ankles. I had missed the feel of them, I supposed.

"A mission, a mission, we're finally getting a mission," Naruto sung.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, smirking slightly.

"A mission without Kakashi-sensei, I take it?" I asked, shooting Tsunade a raised eyebrow.

"Correct; Kakashi and most of the Jōnin are already on different missions. We will only have the three of you complete this mission this time," Tsunade said as she held up a scroll. "This is a B-Rank mission. You three will guard an important figure."

She unrolled the scroll. "Of course, depending on the situation, it could also be classified as an A-Rank mission."

"And? Who are we guarding?" Sasuke asked.

"No clue," Tsunade said casually.

"What do you mean 'no clue'?" Naruto demanded.

"In the allied Land of Tea, there is an event called the Todoroki Taisha, a dedication ceremony held once every four years. We have accepted a mission to guard the runner who will run in the race at that ceremony. However, the messengers were defeated by an opponent's spy before they arrived here… For details, you can ask Boss Jirouchou of the Land of Tea."

"If this mission is so high ranked," I murmured, "then shouldn't it be given to at least a team with a Chūnin on it?"

Tsunade's eyes flashed and she gave a very secret smile. "Your team is very much qualified for this mission. But enough questions; depart right away. You must arrive at the Land of Tea by the end of today. Hurry up."

"Yes, Hokage-sama (Obaa-chan).

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

After we stepped outside of the office, I grabbed both of my teammate's arms. They both paused and looked at me.

I smiled. "Thanks to Duck-Ass's nickname for me… I have been inspired to do a little experiment."

"Oh?" Sasuke asked with a very amused smirk.

Naruto gave me a curious look. "What is it, Momma?"

"On this mission," I hummed, "I am going to go as… a boy!"

Sasuke snorted and shook his head, clearly amused. Naruto gaped at me. "But… but…!"

I shrugged and poked my chest. "I'm flat enough I could pass with just simple binding. Not to mention I would just have to make a few minor adjustments to my appearance. I already talk crude enough. And frankly, I think it would be very interesting."

"But…" Naruto seemed lost for a moment before he shook his head. "You're a _girl_, Momma. Why would you want to be a boy?"

"It'll be fun," I said happily. "So I want you two to play along with it."

Sasuke eyed me for a moment before he nodded. "I'll play along."

Naruto gaped at him. "Teme, _you_ would…?"

I grinned. "So Naruto, will you play along?"

Naruto still appeared flabbergasted but he nodded his head.

"Excellent, I'll meet you two at the front gate!"

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

My appearance didn't really change that much.

Instead of pretty much bare legs with straps to hold my kunai pouches, I now wore long black pants that seemed a little loose on me. My head band was now in its proper place and I let my hair fall free. I also pulled up my hood. Lastly, I bound my already pretty much flat chest.

Naruto burst out laughing when he saw me. "Momma… you really don't look any different."

I shrugged, smiling. "I know. That's what makes it so interesting. But at least the only thing girlish about me now is my hair. But I don't like wigs and I don't want to dye it for a onetime thing."

Sasuke grunted. "I can't believe you're actually doing this." He paused. "No. I _can_ believe you're doing this: it's _you._"

I cackled. "Exactly. Alright. So from here on out call me Haru. Or Saku. Either one will do just fine. And Naruto—you'll either have to call me nii-chan or Papa. Your choice."

Naruto was still laughing but he nodded his head. "Sure, sure, Haru-nii."

I smiled. "Alright then. Let's get going guys."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

About halfway through our journey we had stopped at a small tea shop for lunch.

After we had ordered our food, I decided to start some conversation.

"So Duck-Ass?" I asked, turning to him with a mischievous smile.

He raised an eyebrow but kept a blank expression otherwise. "So Pinky."

"You said your goals were to kill a certain man and to…" I paused for dramatic effect, "_revive your clan._ Am I correct?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "You are."

Naruto grinned, leaning forward as he noticed where I was going with this. So was Sasuke because he was clearly showing he was _not_ amused.

"And how pray tell, were you going to achieve this?" I asked, my smile widening considerably.

"You're a pervert," Sasuke said bluntly, his cheeks warming.

I cackled. "What? Were you going to walk up to random fan girls and ask them, _Will you bare my child?_"

Naruto began joining me in laughter. "Or, or maybe he was going to just kidnap one of them and—"

"Dobe!" Sasuke snapped, flushing slightly.

My hands flew up to my mouth as I tried to keep my laughter down in the quiet shop.

Idate suddenly stopped in front of our table, not even glancing at us. "To be laughing so carelessly on a beautiful day like this… being a ninja must be an easy occupation."

My laughter slowly faded as Naruto's cut off completely. Naruto gave him a frown. "What did you say?"

"Konoha must be a really peaceful place. They're all stupid looking," Idate sneered.

Naruto's hand slammed down on the table as he stood up abruptly. "Care to say that again?!"

He turned towards me, his sneer replaced with a sly grin. He completely ignored Naruto. "Oh, I never knew such cute girls lived there. I take back everything I've said."

I gaped at him.

He leaned forward, smiling still. "I'm called Morino Idate. What's your name missy?"

I quickly lost my shock and glowered at him with the darkest look I could muster. His eyes widened and he appeared taken back. In a low, dangerous voice I said. "I. Am. A. _Boy._"

He gaped at me before he began snickering.

My hand twitched and for the first time I began to see the appeal of smacking someone senseless over the head. So I decided to go with what I was feeling for.

I swung my right fist—being sure not to put any actual power until it—where it connected with the top of Idate's head. There was a satisfying crack and he went down.

I glowered down at him. "Punk."

Naruto chortled with satisfied laughter. Sasuke sighed.

Idate clutched his head and glowered at us—mostly at me. "This is why I hate ninjas. Listen you three, if you stay here any longer in the Land of Tea I promise you, you won't return home unharmed."

Naruto's laughter faded and he returned to scowling at him. "Oh yeah? If it's a fight you want, you're on."

"Naruto calm down. We don't have time to play with… punks," Sasuke said the word with a tint of amusement in it.

Naruto whirled on him. "Shut up, Teme! If this guy—"

When we all turned back to where Idate was supposed to have been—we found he had long since left.

I shook my head and sighed, turning to my boys. "So? How was that for a guy?"

"Excellent, Momma," Naruto said, smiling at me and completely forgetting Idate.

Sasuke merely grunted.

"Here you are," The waitress said, setting down our small treats in front of us. I smiled and thanked her on our behalf. She then set down two receipts.

I stared at them. "We didn't order anything aside from our own."

"Oh, that boy said you three would pay for his," The waitress said with a smile before turning away.

I sighed, pulling out my wallet and setting money on the table. I then grabbed my stick of dango just as Naruto finished his rant about how Idate made a mockery of us.

Naruto grabbed his pack and rushed out.

I rolled my eyes and grabbed my own pack, sticking the dango in my mouth.

Sasuke followed behind me and together we chased after Naruto who chased after Idate.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

We finally found him after he tripped over a root and fell off a small cliff into a few trees before promptly falling to the ground.

Naruto barked out a laugh. "Serves you right!"

"You certainly have guts to try and outwit us," Sasuke said from the other side of Idate.

Idate's eyes flashed dangerously before he dropped to his knees and cried out in despair. "I'm sorry! My wallet was stolen and just when I was in a bind, you three came so I took advantage."

"Bullshit," I deadpanned.

It was then that a familiar knife fell out of the tree Naruto was in and landed on the ground. Naruto frowned and hopped down from his tree branch to pick it up. Before he could touch it Idate's hand flashed out and he grabbed it.

He then flipped up and unhooked his ankle weights, lifting them up. "Don't touch what's mine. And with that being said… On your mark… get set… go!"

He dropped the weights and they fell to the ground with a very loud thump, picking up a huge amount of dust.

Idate was off and running, shouting over his shoulder, "Come visit me the day before yesterday! You dimwits!"

Before Naruto or Sasuke could give chase, I spoke, "We won't catch him. Besides, we have an important mission to get back to. Forget the punk."

Naruto huffed but complied. Sasuke narrowed his eyes but didn't bother to argue.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

We now stood in front of Jirouchou. He sat in front of us, the tired old man, with a gentle smile. "Everyone, thank you for coming."

Sasuke stepped forward. "I am Uchiha Sasuke. These are my teammates; Uzumaki Naruto and Haru Saku."

Naruto sniggered at my name and I elbowed him in the ribs.

Jirouchou dipped his head. "I am Jirouchou, a pleasure."

"Now that we're done with greetings, let's get down to business," Sasuke said brusquely. "We were told by the Fifth to gather the additional details from you."

Jirouchou gave a nod, his smile taking a more hardened tone to it. "Yes, to tell you the truth… Do you three know of the Todoroki Taisha dedication ceremony?"

"T-T-Todo… what?" Naruto attempted to repeat.

Jirouchou waved his hand dismissively. "Relax, please."

We all sat down and he began to explain. I decided to tune him out. I already knew it was a race between two clans to deliver the magic balls that magically kept the storms at bay. That to keep the clans from destroying the city through fighting, they would fight over land through the race…

When he finished his long winded explanation, Naruto pulled me from my mindless musings.

"Leave it to us," He said.

"And?" Sasuke asked, clearly not impressed with the story or with Naruto. "Who do we guard?"

Jriouchou smile and clapped his hands.

The door to our far left slid open, revealing… Idate. He noticed us and gave me a look of pure horror. I shot him a dark glare.

Sasuke smacked me over the head. I whirled around and glared at him. "What was that for?"

He glared right back. "Behave, Pinky. We're on a mission."

I huffed but let it slide.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Because I was clearly in a spiteful mood, Naruto got stuck with guarding Idate first. Sasuke and I were left to shop for supplies in the city. It was relatively uneventful with the exception of Sasuke kicking some random thugs' asses.

Overall, boring day.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

The following day at dawn, the three of us gathered at the start line. Naruto was agape to see how pretty much the entire village had gathered to watch the race.

Sasuke and I stood calmly behind Idate while Naruto hopped from one foot to the other with excitement. Sasuke and I shared a look of exasperation, but my look had a hint of amusement on it since after all, he was _my_ son.

Finally, the race had begun.

The doors in front of the two racers swung open, revealing the boats—as well as the horizon.

I almost chuckled when I saw Idate's face light up with realization.

Finally, the sun had risen and the announcer cried out to start.

Idate had made a sharp turn to the left, running away from the boats.

"What the hell?" Naruto cried out. I chuckled.

"Come on boys, we've got a runner to follow," I said before running off after him.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

After we had saved Idate from a couple genjutsus, reached the south beach and finally boarded the ship, it got boring—once again.

Idate pretty much steered the boat and the rest of us idly stood on the deck.

"So… Idate," I called out. "You wouldn't happen to know _Morino_ Ibiki?"

Idate's eyes widened as he whirled around and stared at me. "What did you say?"

"Now I know why his name sounds so familiar," Sasuke commented. "Ibiki… wasn't he the first examiner in the Chūnin Exams?"

"I think he was," Naruto said with a frown.

"Are you saying my brother is alive?" Idate asked.

"Of course he's alive," Naruto said with a roll of his eyes. "He asked a really strange question on the tenth question and—"

"Is it true? Is he really alive?" Idate asked again, bewildered.

Before any of us could reply, an arrow whirled by our heads, landing on the deck.

Our heads snapped behind us, finding the approaching ship nearing us. More arrows flew through the sky towards us and we deflected them with our kunai.

Sasuke leapt back towards us, scowling. "Naruto and I will drive them off. Pinky, guard Idate."

"What the hell?" I asked. "Why can't I go on offense and _you_ guard Idate?"

He smacked me over my head. "Behave."

I scowled and muttered under my breath but complied.

"Damn it," Naruto cursed as more arrows—this time with ropes attached to them—grabbed onto our ship, pulling them in.

I handed Naruto a kunai and he cut the ropes free while Sasuke… ran off out of my sight.

After Naruto had cut us free, clones of the same damn Genin from the Chūnin Exam all those weeks ago slowly merged up from beneath the deck.

"Oh," I said flatly. "It's you guys. Damn that's boring."

They didn't respond and Sasuke used his Sharingan. "Naruto, Pinky, the real one is hidden among the clones."

"Idate, try not to stray too far away from me," I ordered.

He sneered. "Who'd accept help from ninja?"

"After all this you're still going on about that, punk?" I growled.

"Pinky," Sasuke snapped.

I bristled but then noticed a charging clone. I sidestepped it before jabbing it in the back and throwing it off the ship. Right after that one, another one charged. Soon it was just a dance of taijustu between me… and the water clones.

After defeating my fourth one, it began to rain… oil.

The rain stopped after a moment, but the ship was nearly covered in the slimy stuff.

A lone fire arrow launched from the hostile ship… onto ours, thus setting it on fire.

"Damn it," I cursed again, annoyance flashing through me. "At this rate, we'll have to jump into the ocean and swim to shore." I turned to Idate. "Can you swim?"

He gave a nod but his eyes were locked with the fire.

"Alright, jump in the water," I said. "I'll follow behind you."

His eyes widened. "N-No. You're just using me as a decoy for the enemies. I won't do it. I don't trust ninja."

"You've got to be kidding me," Naruto growled, slashing through another clone.

I sighed in exasperation. "Idate that's completely illogical. Our mission is to protect you. If you die, we don't get paid."

He stared at me blankly.

"Go," I hissed. "You're going to be a burden if you stay any longer. Trust us for goodness sake."

When he still didn't budge I glared. "Jump or I throw you in and drag you to shore myself."

His eyes widened and he nodded his head before jumping over the ledge and into the water.

Naruto chuckled and Sasuke shook his head. I slashed off another clone before I hollered, "Alright, let's go boys."

Naruto kicked off one final clone before nodding. Sasuke finished the last of them before running over to the edge and diving in. Naruto and I shared a roll of eyes, muttering 'Show off'. We dived in after him.

Idate was far ahead of us but nonetheless we began paddling towards shore. Not even a minute into paddling was Naruto pulled down into the water.

I sighed in annoyance.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Finally, we dragged ourselves onto shore—Naruto and I decided to simply water walk, Sasuke swimming behind with mild annoyance we had learned how to water walk before him.

We wandered on the shoreline for a bit, searching for any sign of Idate. We found him, lying on the ground in front of Aoi just as it began to drizzle.

We ran forward, Naruto throwing a kunai to draw Aoi's attention. Aoi turned towards us, raising an eyebrow.

"Are you the boss of those rain-nin?" Naruto growled. I leapt around Naruto and Aoi to kneel by Idate.

I placed a hand on his forehead, sending in waves of chakra.

"As I thought, it was too much for them to handle… Even though both sides were Genin it seems the Konoha Genin are indeed tough."

I began repairing the damage done to Idate from Aoi's needles. It was difficult to tune out Naruto and Sasuke's battle with Aoi, but I somehow managed to do it.

Sadly though Aoi decided to be an asshole and bring me into the fray. I was roughly pulled from my healing when Aoi's strong wind justu nearly knocked me away. I scowled up at him and he smirked, throwing needles. I quickly shoved my body over Idate to shield him from the poisoned needles.

I grimaced when the sharp pain raced through my shoulder and seeping burn began to take place. Before any of us could make another movement, Aoi left.

"Fuck this shit," I muttered, my hands moving quickly.

I summoned Gedo and Doku.

"I need an antidote for the Rain Village's poison," I said quickly before either could question. "Just their standard poison. I assume you two know it via Hanzō."

_~We do.~_ Gedo smiled at me. _~How much do you need?~_

I motioned to everyone.

Gedo nodded her head before she waddled over to me and bit me. I winced as her fangs dug into me and I must admit it felt really weird having the antidote injected into me. Like getting a shot.

She then proceeded to give the antidote to Naruto, Sasuke and Idate.

Sasuke and Naruto finished ripping out the needles by the time Gedo finished. I smiled at her. "Thanks Gedo."

_~Always a pleasure, Sakura-sama.~_

I nodded at Doku. "Thanks for tagging along, Doku."

_-Whatever, brat.-_

And just like that, they were gone. I moved to kneel beside Idate again, sending in waves of chakra to heal away his fatigue and force him to wake up.

Slowly Idate opened his eyes. The drizzle stopped. He struggled to sit up. "What… where is he? Where is Aoi?"

"He disappeared," Sasuke said. "So that rain ninja is called Aoi?"

"Do you know him?" Naruto asked.

"… He was my teacher when I was in Konoha. Aoi betrayed the village and became a Jōnin for the Rain Village."

"Fascinating," I muttered, my hand moving forward towards his bleeding leg. My hand flickered green as it glowed from chakra. I began repairing all tissue damage and fatigue, ignoring him as he explained his past.

I pulled away from healing him, satisfied he was now as fit as he could be. Just as Naruto began his inspiring speech and used his Motivational-Therapy-Justu on him.

It wasn't so different from the anime—the only difference being that Idate was able to run on his own this time so Naruto didn't carry him.

With Idate leading us, we rushed off to the shrine.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Idate reached the bridge, just to see Aoi standing in front of him, looking as smug as ever.

Idate stopped before us, his hand gripping the magic ball he got from the shrine. Aoi then cut the bridge.

We then finally caught up enough for Naruto to throw a mud ball at Aoi before he could harm Idate. Aoi deflected it with his umbrella but he was clearly annoyed.

Naruto then began to form his Rasengan. He charged forward and Aoi intercepted his Rasengan with his blade. Naruto flew back from the explosion of the interception and Aoi pinned him down with needles.

I sighed but rushed forward to Naruto and Sasuke glared at Aoi.

I knelt before my son and began to pluck out the needles quickly. It wasn't long before all the needles were gone and I was working on repairing the damage. In front of us, Sasuke charged with his Chidori, only to have Aoi deflect it.

Aoi commented off handedly how pathetic the Uchiha Clan was with Sasuke in it.

I wanted to roll my eyes and reply, "You shouldn't have done that."

Naturally I didn't, I just focused on healing my son.

This severely pissed off Sasuke and he charged at Aoi, swearing very rude things at him. I finished healing Naruto, hopping up onto my feet just in time to see him charge.

The Chidori connected with the blade with a force only a pissed off Uchiha could muster up. Silly Uchiha and their egos. The blade cracked, but in the end it proved to be stronger than Sasuke's Chidori.

Yellow, crackling electricity wrapped around Sasuke as the blade lifted him off the ground. I was already rushing towards him. I swung my leg forward and Aoi's eyes widened. He was too preoccupied with Sasuke he didn't pay attention to me.

Idiot.

My foot connected with his side and he flew away from me, crashing into the trees. The sword released Sasuke and I caught up, letting out an umph at his weight and falling on my butt.

I scowled at Aoi. "Screw the plot. I'm ending this."

I pushed Sasuke out of my lap and unhooked my weights. Glancing at Naruto I said, "Prepare the Rasengan. When I give you an opening, you damn well take it and hit him with it."

Naruto nodded his head.

"And don't let him see you preparing that," I said quickly.

He nodded again before rushing to hide behind a few trees.

Setting my weights aside, I stood up, feeling unusually light. Aoi slowly stood up from his landing in the trees, scowling furiously. I scowled right back.

"You uppity little brat," He snarled.

My eyes narrowed and I took a fighting stance. He snarled again before charging forward, swinging his dangerous sword towards me. I ducked underneath it, sidestepping around him quickly and pushing chakra into my fist.

He twisted around me but I was faster, now free of my burden. I swung my fist where it connected into left rib cage, just as he twisted to face me. He was sent flying back but I wasn't done. I pushed chakra into my feet and lurched to follow him.

His eyes sharpened as I neared and he tried to spin in the air, in hopes of avoiding me. I swung out my leg and kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying up.

I kicked off from the ground, following right behind him.

Damn. This guy was easy compared to Kabuto.

He swung out his arm with the sword, barely grazing me. Sharp spikes of energy raced off from the cut on my cheek where the sword touched me and I inwardly winced. But his swing was still in motion, forcing his body to turn with it and thus giving me his back just as I reached him in the air.

I pushed my chakra into my hands before I clapped his ears. He gave out a cry, I gripped his head and threw him at the ground.

I fell to the earth, landing with a thud on my feet to see him crash into the ground. He lost his grip on his sword and was clutching his bleeding ears in pain.

I ran forward and grabbed the sword before he could react. Once the sword was safely in my hands, he shakily stood up, spitting a cursing something fierce.

"I thought you were supposed to be a Jōnin," I commented lazily. "Pretty sure the Jōnin _I_ know could kick my ass back at Konoha."

"You got lucky, bitch," He snarled. _How the hell could he still hear me?_

**Pretty sure Jōnin can read lips.**

Oh.

"I'm a boy!" I said hotly.

His eyes widened briefly. "But your hair…"

"Blame genetics!" I shouted, stomping my foot for emphasis. I shook my head. "Naruto… now!"

"Right-ee-oh!" Naruto yelled, charging forward from behind Aoi. Aoi's eyes widened and he turned around quickly, just in time for Naruto slam his Rasengan into his chest.

Aoi was sent spiraling backwards, off the cliff and towards the dangerous waters below.

I nodded my head. "Good job, son."

Naruto laughed, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "It was your plan, Sakur—Saku."

"Ah… but you're the one who defeated him," I said cheerily. "And with that done… Idate, Naruto, you two go on ahead and finish the race. I'll take care of Duck-Ass."

"Right but how will we do that? The bridge is nearly gone…"

"Leave that to me," Idate said, jumping up on the last remaining rope of the bridge. "We can use this rope to climb across."

"Right!" Naruto said. "Okay, see you later, Saku!"

I gave a nod of my head before turning towards Sasuke and sitting on the ground in front of him. My hands glowed green and I set to work.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"So in short," I said, "the mission was a success and we were able to bring back this blade."

I set said blade on the table of the Hokage's office. Tsunade eyed it before she smiled at me and nodded. "Good work. Also, your teammates should be checking out of the hospital soon enough. Sasuke will be staying behind for more tests but… I thank you for personally reporting the mission to me."

I smiled. "Always happy to be of help."

Tsunade nodded. "You're now dismissed. Send Naruto and Sasuke when you get the chance to receive their pay for the mission."

"Sure thing Hokage-sama," I replied. "I'll tell them whenever I see them next… but for now I just really wanna go home and sleep."

"You and me both," Tsunade sighed wearily, glancing out the window to see the night sky.

Huzzah for us for returning to Konoha at such a late hour.

Not.

Oh well. At least the mission was over and I can finally get some rest.

Though. It also meant Sasuke would be leaving us, very soon.

And despite having been prepared for it since the moment I came into this world, I couldn't stop the small stab of pain in my chest.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

To Sakura,

I do not know what to think of you.

Gaara

* * *

_Bum, bum, bum... Part I is nearly complete. All that's left is Shippuden. :)_

_Though before I go... a **question for you all**... A while ago I asked if Sakura should have been made Chūnin. The results for the exam were postponed due to change in Hokage and war and such... Through PMs and reviews, a handful of you claimed it would be too Mary-Sue and others say it was a deserved promotion and encourage the promotion. The rest of you either don't care or just haven't said anything. I suppose my question is once again, should Sakura be made Chūnin?_

_I already have the chapter written out and have planned for whether or not she acheived the ranking and don't intend on changing it-but I'm curious for your inputs. _

**_And before I forget, a review mentioned they were confused about something in the last chapter but left no way for me to respond as their PM is disabled... so please allow me to clarify and apologize that there was any confusion at all._**

_In the beginning chapters Sakura mentioned how she loathed Kabuto, and that loathing and sheer resentment wasn't anything to sneeze about. In the previous chapter(s), Sasuke has fought and battle Itachi who at this point he equally loathes. Sakura fought and battled Kabuto and both Sasuke and Sakura lost. When Sakura visited Sasuke she was mentioning how they both could relate on some note as they both lost to people they hate. I don't know about you, but losing to someone I resent is a rather bitter thing to feel and can prove to be most miserable afterwards. And you know what they say, misery loves company. Sakura suggested towards the end that because Sasuke listened to her loss, she would be willing to listen to his-it was an indirect way of giving him a chance to open up to her. Something of which Sasuke declined for the moment, but mentioned **perhaps** later. _

_I hope that clarified everything. :) If not, please let me know!_

_Reviews are **love**._

_See you Tuesday/Friday._


	26. Sasuke

_"You know, they got a luggage store in the airport? A place to buy a piece of luggage? How late do you have to be for a flight where you're like, 'Fuck it - just grab a pile of shit. We'll get a bag at the airport.'" - Anonymous_

_**Disclaimer: **Naruto is Kishimoto's toy. I'm just playing with it._

_**Warning: **Language._

**_HOLD UP Searching .For .Enadi - _**_I would like to personally thank you for your most wonderful reviews and I am sorry if this outcome bothers you in the slightest but I had this planned for a long time mostly for the sake of convenience of moving the story along. I will, after taking in your very polite and appreciated input make a small exception to the... surprise... Anyway. Thanks for your bundles of love in your reviews._

**_HOLD UP MusicOfMadness - _**_I'd like to thank you as well for your suggestion ^^ Thank you verymuch. And I'd like to thank you for your reviews._

* * *

Dear Gaara,

I'm bored. This place is boring. I'm bored. I'm bored. I'm bored. _I'm bored._

Please tell me something interesting is going on over at your place. And if there is, may I pretty please come over?

So bored.

Dying of boredom,

Sakura

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"To be entirely honest with you, I don't really know what to do about this," Tsunade said at her desk. To her left were the proctors from the Chūnin Exam, Genma, Anko and Ibiki. To her right was Shizune holding Tonton.

"Since the exam was disrupted, some people think that nobody should pass. However, I've heard the late Third Hokage held you in high regard." She picked up an ink brush and began to write on blank paper. "And I even heard comments from other Chūnin and Jōnin. Even the spectators, the feudal lords and the examiners agreed. That also means that it's not only my problem."

She smiled as she finished writing. "Next time around, show me your skills and don't bring shame on Konoha. Congratulations! As of today, you two are a Chūnin."

Inwardly, I squealing with joy while at the same time completely shocked.

I _really_ wasn't expecting this.

I bowed humbly. "Thank you, Hokage-sama."

Shikamaru mirrored me. "…Thanks Hokage-sama."

I took the Chūnin jacket Shizune handed me and eyed it with a frown. "Do I have to wear this _all_ the time?"

Tsunade gave a very amused smirk. "Haruno Sakura, do I detect resentment in the honor of graduating from Genin?"

"No," I said slowly. "You detect resentment in me having to wear this. I don't wanna have to take off my hoodie. I like it. It's comfy."

"Well because you resent it so…" Tsunade trailed off. "Yes; you do."

I stuck my tongue out at her and she chuckled along with a few other Jōnin.

Shikamaru sighed beside me. "So troublesome."

"I agree wholeheartedly."

I pulled off my red hoodie, revealing my red cammie underneath, before tying it around my waist. I was suddenly grateful I had decided to keep wearing my black 'boy' pants. I pulled the Chūnin jacket on me.

I eyed it disdainfully.

Tsunade must have read my mind or something because she then said, "And no, you are not allowed to alter its design, color or _anything_ about it. And Sakura, I swear if your jacket 'mysteriously' disappears or is 'vandalized' in some way I _will_ cut your pay in half."

"Ach! Unfair!" I cried.

Tsunade merely smirked. I grumbled under my breath.

"Oh, but wait, Sakura I want you to stay after for a bit. Shikamaru and everyone else, you are dismissed..."

As everyone filed out, I blinked curiously at Tsunade. "What's up?"

"It's about your promotion..."

"What about it?" I inquired.

"Well," Tsunade said carefully, "while the majority agreed on your promotion, some-including myself-are a little iffy. Don't take offense to this, Sakura, but while you hold a clever mind you lack in experience and actual battle skill. You're not a certifiable genius so you can't rely on your wit alone..."

I nodded, not really surprised. "That makes sense. So what's going to happen?"

"Think of it as a Chūninprobation," Tsunade said with a slow smile. "For one year you will be supervised by Jiraiya, myself or Kakashi and if we think your skill has at least met up with that of a Chūnin, you will keep your rank. If not, you'll take the exams again."

"A year?" I blinked. "That doesn't sound so bad. Do I still have to keep the jacket?"

Tsunade gave a snort. "You're a legal Chūninso yes, you have to keep the rank. But you will still lead the occassional mission, just nothing above a C rank... perhaps a B rank if we feel you're up to it."

I smiled. "Well that's fine by me. I'm just _really_ glad I don't have to take the upcoming exams _again_."

"Maybe," Tsunade said with a smirk.

My smile widened.

Probation Chūnin? Not bad.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

I sipped my carton of strawberry milk through the straw as I walked slowly towards the hospital. I had both Naruto's and Sasuke's paychecks seeing how neither of them came in to visit Tsunade. Sasuke at least had the excuse of being in the hospital. Naruto had no excuse.

I entered Sasuke's room, only to find Naruto already in it.

Both of them looked up sharply at my entry. And both of their eyes widened when they got a clear view of me.

"M-Momma…" Naruto stared in awe. "Is that… a _Chūnin_ jacket?"

"Yeah," I said, shrugging. "Apparently the Third liked my performance enough to have me promoted. Or at least legally promoted, so far. Thank goodness too, I _really_ didn't want to have to go through all that again."

"Congratulations!" Naruto said happily, rushing forward. I smiled and opened my arms to receive his hug.

"Thanks, son," I cooed, pulling away and patting his head.

I handed him an envelope. "This is your pay for the mission."

Naruto took it with a quick thank you, still grinning happily.

I held out the second envelope towards Sasuke who had gone back to glaring furiously at his lap.

"Here, Duck-Ass," I said.

His arm snapped back, slapping my wrist and forcing me to drop the envelope. It floated to the ground soundlessly.

"What the hell?" Naruto demanded.

"Damn it was just money, don't have to be so pissy about it. Not all of us can be insanely rich you know," I muttered, rubbing my sore wrist. Sasuke ignored me and glared darkly at Naruto.

Naruto appeared momentarily taken back by the glare. "You don't have to glare at me like that."

"Naruto," Sasuke said, his voice low. "Fight me. Now!"

"Why?" Naruto asked bluntly.

"Just fight me!" He snapped, his eyes taking on the Sharingan form.

I scowled. "Duck-Ass, cool it."

"And I want to fight you next, Flat-Chest," Sasuke growled, his eyes swinging towards me.

I blinked, caught off guard by that. Well that wasn't planned.

"What?" I asked dumbly.

Sasuke swung his gaze back to Naruto. "Well? Didn't you say you wanted to fight me? So do it. Right now. Or are you too scared?"

Naruto glared for a moment before it faded into a smirk. "Got it. I was thinking about fighting you anyway."

Sasuke gave a nod. "Follow me."

I blinked a few more times, the shock slowly disappearing.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

The three of us stood on the roof. Naruto at one end, Sasuke at the other, and me standing a little way from them.

I glanced at Sasuke. "I don't suppose I could talk you out of this?"

"Hn."

I looked back at Naruto. "And I don't suppose I could convince you to back down?"

"Sorry, Momma."

I sighed. "Fine. But the moment things get too… dangerous, I'm stepping in and kicking both of your asses."

Naruto gave a nod and Sasuke ignored me.

I closed my eyes, droning out their banters and focused on searching the crowds for a certain chakra.

There. Heading towards us, slowly but surely.

I flared my chakra, once.

Instantly, the chakra of fellow Chūnin and Jōnin in the nearby area tensed, but none came towards us. Naruto and Sasuke didn't notice, already beginning their fight.

But he did. His chakra tensed before he starting coming towards us—faster now.

I opened my eyes, just in time to see Sasuke up in the air and a small army of Narutos on the roof looking up at him. Sasuke's hands moved quickly as began his fire ball jutsu.

I leapt up in the air, landing on the fence as I watched Sasuke eliminate all of Naruto's shadow clones. When the fire cleared, it revealed Naruto with a ready Rasengan. Sasuke scowled and formed his Chidori, diving towards Naruto.

I clenched my fists, not checking to see where Kakashi was. I kicked off from the fence just as they neared each other. My hands reached out, chakra pulsing in them.

The two deadly moves nearly collided but my right hand grabbed Naruto's hand and my left hand grabbed Sasuke's hand.

Sharp pain jolted up and down my left arm from grabbing Sasuke's hand with the Chidori still activated. Harsh pain, akin to being set on fire, raced down my right hand from grabbing Naruto's chakra loaded hand.

The pain was almost overwhelming but my body was still moving automatically. I twisted and threw both of them away. They both crashed into separate small water towers on the roof.

I fell in to the ground and clutched my hands to my chest. They were stinging like mother f—

"You moved faster than I, Sakura," Kakashi said. My eyes widened and I whirled around to see Kakashi right behind me. He was looking at Sasuke and Naruto though. "A second later and it would have been me who intercepted them."

He paused. "What are you guys doing on the roof of the hospital? If you guys are fighting, that's a bit too much, isn't it?"

Naruto stood up shakily, pulling his hand away from the water tower and from the giant hole/dent he made in it. A tiny sprout of water poured through.

Sasuke had a bit more trouble, seeing how the Chidori forced his hand to pull the metal along with it in its punch. He struggled but managed to pull his hand free—water pouring out of it motr quickly and strongly than Naruto's hole. He too shakily stood up.

"Were you planning to kill Naruto, Sasuke?"

My eyes widened as they snapped up to Kakashi who now sat above Sasuke on the water tower.

"What were you so angry about? Chidori is not something you should use against your comrades. Why are you acting like a child?"

"Hn," Sasuke scoffed, but before he could back flip away, Kakashi spoke again.

"Sakura, mind showing us your hands?"

I pulled my hands away, inspecting the damage. I winced. My left hand looked like it was stuck in a bin of barbed wire while electricity was coursing through said wire. My right hand merely looked like it was burned by a spinning fire ball. Lovely.

"Damn, already staining my vest with blood," I muttered grumpily.

I heard a sharp intake of breath and my eyes looked up to see Naruto. His eyes were wide with guilt. My eyes strayed over to Sasuke.

He stared at my hands, his face unreadable and for a flash I could have sworn I saw regret. But it was gone too quickly to be of notice.

His hands clenched tightly to his sides and he then back flipped over the fence and onto the roof of the building below. He was out of sight from there on.

Kakashi appeared in front of me, pulling out gauze and ointment from his Chūnin jacket pocket. I wordlessly held out my hands.

"S…Sakura… why aren't you healing your hands by yourself?" Naruto asked quietly.

"I can't," I said bluntly. "They're covered in chakra burns—if I added my own chakra in the mix without knowing what I was doing I would more than likely do more harm than good. So the best thing to do now is wrap it up. I'll ask Hokage-sama to look at them later."

Naruto fell quiet, his eyes trailing downcast as he became lost in his own thoughts.

While Kakashi continued to wrap my left hand in ointment smeared gauze, he spoke. "Are you the one who taught him that jutsu? I think Naruto is a bit too young for that. It's possible he could have killed Sasuke. And it even hurt Sakura."

He finished my left hand and moved onto my right hand. "Even if it was for defense against the Akatsuki… to teach Naruto that jutsu…"

And slowly, from behind the water tower, Jiraiya stepped out. His usual cheery face devoid of emotion. "That goes for you too. The Chidori is pretty dangerous. But I didn't think he would use that jutsu against his friends. Or is there something else going on between them?"

"Well, quite a bit, actually," Kakashi replied.

"Quite a bit?" Jiraiya questioned.

"Well, to put it simply, it's like the way it was between you and Orochimaru. It's a complex thing… their rivalry and yours."

"Very," I muttered. Jiraiya shot me a questioning look and I mouthed 'Later'. He nodded his head.

I shot a glance towards Naruto, who seemed completely oblivious to his surroundings, staring at his hand with deep concentration.

Kakashi finished bandaging me. "Such a shame this happened on your big day, Sakura."

I looked up at him and frowned, momentarily forgetting what he was hinting at before I remembered. I looked down at my jacket.

"Shit!" I shouted, staring at it in horror.

Jiraiya and Kakashi tensed, looking at me strangely.

"Tsunade is going to _murder_ me when she sees I've already got it stained. No, worse, she's going to cut my pay in half! Damn it!" I cried mournfully.

They both relaxed and Kakashi shook his head. "I'm sure you'll get it out."

"Do you know how hard it is to get blood stains out?" I demanded.

"Yes," He said unsympathetically.

I huffed.

Jiraiya shook his head and gave me a small smile before he headed over to Naruto.

Kakashi patted my head. "Well. Congratulations on the promotion, Sakura."

"Thank you," I murmured. I bit my bottom lip. "Kakashi-sensei?"

"Yes?"

"I…" I looked up at him. "Later, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but soon… will you train me?"

He stared at me.

"One on one training," I ventured. "Like you did with Duck-Ass during the exam."

He patted my head again. "Alright."

I nodded my head, satisfied. "Okay… you're free to chase after Duck-Ass now."

His eye crinkled, showing he was giving an amused smile. "Thank you. Later, Sakura."

"Bye-bye Kakashi-sensei," I replied as he disappeared.

I turned to find Naruto had already left, instead only Jiraiya stood on the roof with me.

I sighed and promptly sat down. Jiraiya gave an amused snort and moved to sit across from me.

"So I take it Sasuke will be defecting from the village soon?" Jiraiya asked.

I nodded my head. "Tonight."

Jiraiya gave me a grim look. "And you're certain he has to train with Orochimaru?"

My shoulders sagged. "There's no way to stop him. And even if we do, he'll think Konoha is holding him back and turn on us. That'll be… worse. At least when he finishes his training with Orochimaru we have a chance to snag him and bring him home."

"I see."

I sighed. "Naruto… Shikamaru… Chōji, Neji, Kiba and Akamaru will be the team sent to retrieve him. Duck-Ass will be escorted by Orochimaru's personal bodyguards—the Sound Four. Jirōbō, Kidōmaru, Tayuya and Sakon/Ukon. Later on Kimimaro will join them. Gaara and his siblings, along with Lee, will also help Naruto's team in the retrieval. In the end it'll be Duck-Ass versus Naruto."

I closed my eyes. "They'll fight at the Valley of End. Naruto won't win."

Opening my eyes I found Jiraiya to be studying me closely. I lowered my gaze. "I will not be allowed to help them because of my 'attachment' with Duck-Ass. Probably for the best anyway. No one on our side will die—but they'll come close. Very close."

Jiraiya gave a slow nod. "And when do I take Naruto away for training?"

"Not for a while after that," I said. "I don't know why, but whatever."

Jiraiya nodded once again. "Anything else you want to tell me?"

I bit my bottom lip. "Will you be sticking around the village?"

"For a little bit."

"Then I'll tell you if anything comes up."

"Very well."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"Naruto," I said, poking said boy in the shoulder. "Come with me."

Naruto looked up from his thoughts, his usual wide smile nowhere in sight. His disturbingly dark eyes flickered to my right hand and back up at me.

"Come on," I said again.

Naruto gave a nod and followed behind me. I lead him to the training grounds where I promptly sat in front of a tree. The sun had set behind us. Naruto eyed me for a moment before sitting down next to me.

I lifted my left arm and pulled him in for a hug. "Silly son, getting all depressed over Duck-Ass."

"I'm not—" he sighed. "I hurt you."

"I hurt myself," I retorted. "It happens. I'm not mad at you and I'll recover just fine, so don't beat yourself up over it."

I squeezed him.

He gave a soft snort, closing his eyes. I ruffled his hair. "Anyway… cheering you up wasn't the only reason I dragged you out here."

"Mm?"

"It wasn't my secret to tell," I said simply. "But seeing how things are… more tense, I figured it would probably be best if you knew what you're up against. You remember SPID? Back at the exams? Well… after you were knocked unconscious, Duck-Ass and SPID fought."

I snorted. "Duck-Ass got his butt handed to him but… at the end… SPID bit him. He left behind this weird mark—a curse mark. That curse mark, while it gives Sasuke a shit ton of power… I guess you could say it makes him a _smidgeon_ aggressive. And it hurts like a mofo at the moment for him…"

I ruffled his hair again. "So you know… ever see strange black marks all over his body, just know it's the curse mark and he's pretty much getting a power up."

"Wonderful," Naruto muttered.

I gave a dry laugh. "Isn't it? Now come on… it's late for you so let's get you home and in bed."

Naruto nodded slowly, opening his eyes and blinking up at me. "Momma?"

"Yes?"

"…Thank you."

I smiled.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Naruto safely tucked away in bed. Check.

Now waiting for Sasuke at the front gate. Check.

Still waiting.

Waiting.

…

Damn it, where the hell was he?

Oh. There he is.

Sasuke stopped in his walking, staring at me indifferently. He was wearing his backpack.

"What are you doing out here so late at night? A midnight stroll?" He questioned.

"Waiting for you," I admitted.

"Are you here to stop me?" He asked.

I closed my eyes. "Would I be able to talk you out of it?"

"No."

I opened my eyes. "Then no."

His eyes widened briefly before he regained his composure. I bit my lip and stepped forward. "I'm not going to waste my breath on such a thing. Instead… I want you to promise me something."

"What is it?" He asked.

I locked eyes with him. "Promise me when you face Itachi… you'll listen to me."

Confusion washed over his face. "Listen to you…?"

"Just," I said, raising a hand up. "Please. Promise me that. That you'll at the very least listen to what I have to say. That's all I ask."

He was quiet for a moment before he gave a short nod. "… I promise."

I smiled, taking another step. "Good."

We fell into silence. Sasuke moved to take the first step away but I moved quicker. My arms wrapped around him and I pulled him into a tight hug. He stiffened but didn't push me away.

For a flash, my bottled up emotions threatened to pour out. And for a flash I felt my chest tighten. But I pushed it all aside once again. I had already prepared myself for this moment. I wasn't going to make it any harder on either of us.

After a moment he returned my hug, sort of awkwardly. As if he wasn't quite sure how.

"Stay alive," I murmured, "and… don't get raped."

He sighed.

"Sorry," I muttered quickly. "Couldn't help it."

"I know you couldn't."

I hugged him tighter. "… You'll have until dawn before they come after you."

He was quiet for a moment. "I understand."

We fell into silence again.

Finally…

I squeezed him one final time before pulling away. He eyed me with a mask of indifference but even I could see the conflicted emotions that whirled behind his dark eyes.

He gave a short nod.

I gnawed at my bottom lip before I stepped aside. Sasuke's eyes flashed but he made no comment as he began to step around me. His footsteps seemed oddly loud in the quiet night as he slowly walked away.

I hugged myself, feeling oddly cold at that moment. "I'll miss you… Sasuke."

He faltered in his footsteps, pausing. His hands clenched tightly to his side. He didn't reply with words, just turned back and gave me one last look. A look that said it all.

In the beginning Sasuke might not have been my favorite person in the world. But somehow, along the way, he became one of my closest friends.

And as that friend walked away, I couldn't keep my emotions pushed aside any longer.

No, I really couldn't have stopped those warm salty tears when I watched him slowly disappear from sight and out of my life for a long, long time.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

To Sakura,

I am bored as well. But you are still welcome to come over.

Gaara

* * *

_So... Sakura was promoted to a probatoin-Chūnin. I wanted her to make Chūnin rank specifically for her to be able to lead a very interesting mission in the next chapter, but after reviewing her own skills and taking in all of my wonderful, wonderful, reviewers comments I felt she just simply lacked too much to **really** qualify for it. Yet she still showed the basic necessary features. So, after a very helpful suggestion I made a compromise. a probation-Chūnin. Not quite a Chūnin but enough for what I have planned to work. I'd like to take this time and thank my oh so wonderful reviewers..._

**_Speaking of wonderful reviewers, you guys are amazing. No, seriously you are. So many reviews in only 26 chapters? I'm thrilled. Thank you very much! :D _**

**_Happy Holidays~ *(P.S. .Enadi & MusicOfMadess, check the top if you haven't already)_**

_Reviews are **love**._

_And because of that love, I'd like to **everyone who has reviewed more than three times or reviewed all of my chapters so far... I'd do every single one but... just... wow, so many...** _

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**_Phew, that's a lot of constant reviewers. Don't think I'll do something like this too often... probably just at the end again if ever again..._**

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**_Alright..._**

_See you Tuesday/Friday~_


	27. Harden Your Heart

_"Who was the first to see a cow and think, _I wonder what will happen if I squeeze these dangly things and drink whatever comes out?_" - Anonymous_

_**Disclaimer: **Naruto is Kishimoto's toy. I'm just playing with it._

_**Warning: **Language._

* * *

Dear Gaara,

I've found a perfect spot in Konoha.

No, seriously, I have. It's hidden behind the farthest training ground, past a few trees and at the end of a small stream. At the end of said stream is a waterfall. Not too big, not too small. At the top of the waterfall is a very tall tree and… the perfect spot.

Seriously. It's perfect. You can practically see everything from up there. Not to mention I have yet to be disturbed while there. I think I'm the only one who uses this spot. I love it here.

Do you have a special spot?

Contently watching the clouds,

Sakura

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

At the crack of dawn, I entered the Hokage's office soundlessly. Tsunade was snoring heavily on her desk.

I poked the top of her head and her eyes snapped open. She sat up abruptly, wiping her chin of drool and staring at me groggily. "Sakura? What are you doing here?"

"Hokage-sama," I murmured, "I would like to report something..."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

I waited outside the office while Tsunade debriefed Shikamaru of his mission. Even though I was a Chūnin, she had thought it would be best if I stayed behind. Not only because my connection with the target might hinder my leadership, but also because my hands were still a little worse for wear. While Naruto would be allowed to attend the mission he wouldn't be leading it. A very key difference. Not to mention I didn't necessarily want to go on the same team Shikamaru was leading anyway...

The door opened up, and Shikamaru stepped out looking grim. He gave me a glance. "How troublesome."

"I know," I replied. "…Do you need help gathering people?"

Shikamaru closed his eyes and shrugged. "Not sure, do you have any suggestions?"

"Naruto, Kiba, Chōji and Neji," I answered.

Shikamaru gave me long look. "Tch. It would be easier if you could come along on this mission. With your medical assistance things would go a lot smoother."

"Maybe… tell you what… I'll give you guys a head start before I follow behind with my own back up. This way you won't have to worry too much about anyone left behind," I said.

Shikamaru nodded his head. "As back up, I'm sure Tsunade would allow you to come along. Alright. I'll be counting on you."

I smiled. "Okay."

Shikamaru turned and began walking away, off to collect teammates. I paused before I turned back to head inside Tsunade's office.

"Hokage-sama," I began. "I would like to request to follow behind them as back up."

"Back up?" Tsunade repeated. "Yes, that will do just fine. Do you have anyone in mind to bring with you?"

"Lee and the Sand Siblings," I answered.

Tsunade's brow furrow. "I was not informed they were—"

"They will be arriving at Konoha shortly," I interrupted. "Sorry for the interruption Hokage-sama. However, I would like my hands to be… suited for this task and I must find Lee before the rest arrive."

Tsunade gave a slow nod. "I understand. Let me see your hands."

I stepped in front of her desk and placed my hands in front of her. She carefully unwrapped the gauze for both hands. She threw the gauze into the waste basket under her desk before her hands glowed a bright green. She placed a hand over each of my own hands.

All at once I could feel her soothing chakra override the dull burning sensation of my hands. I watched with morbid curiosity as my flesh knitted back together and the angry red splotches slowly faded away.

It wasn't long until she was complete.

I smiled. "Thank you Hokage-sama."

"But of course," She replied.

I gave a nod, dismissing myself and hurried off to find Lee.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"Lee-san!" I shouted, running towards Neji and Lee. The two of them were standing in the middle of a deserted street, probably on their way to training. They both paused at my shout.

"Sakura-san!" Lee shouted joyfully. "Such a pleasure to see your beautiful face so early in this youthful morning."

When I caught up to them I waved my hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I need your help with a mission. Ah, Neji, Shikamaru should be showing up soon to request your help with a mission as well."

Neji frowned and Lee looked positively thrilled.

"How can I be of service to you, Sakura-san?" Lee asked.

"I want you to accompany me on back up," I explained. "Neji, Shikamaru and a few others will be sent ahead of us as the main squad. I want you to follow me on back up for them. They're going to need it."

Lee gave a firm nod. "Of course! Whatever I can do to help."

"What makes you think Shikamaru is going to come to me?" Neji asked me incredulously.

"Because he's going to need you," I answered. "In fact..."

I turned my head, feeling the familiar chakra presence of Naruto, accompanied by three other chakra signatures. Lee and Neji followed my gaze to find Shikamaru and the others rounding the corner.

I waved at them. "Lee's with me on back up. Neji's all yours."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

Neji's eyes narrowed. "I never agreed to the mission."

"You don't have a choice," I answered. "It's a direct order from the Hokage for Shikamaru to gather talented Genin on this mission because the Jōnin have all decided to take missions at this moment. And I'm the only other Chūnin available so I'm going as back up."

Shikamaru's team reached us just as I finished. Naruto gave me a sad look. "Momma… Teme he…"

"I know," I told him. "I'm leading the backup squad."

Naruto looked down. "I see."

I moved forward and pulled him into a quick hug. "Don't worry. We'll bring Duck-Ass back eventually… if not this time around."

I added that last part as an afterthought. I pulled out of the hug and moved to stand by Lee.

"Neji, did Sakura explain the mission to you?" Shikamaru asked.

"No."

"Troublesome."

"Hey, I just got here," I said, frowning.

Shikmaru just shrugged. "We're running out of time. Neji, I'll explain the mission details on the way."

"Understood," Neji said, moving to stand beside Shikamaru.

Shikamaru turned to me. "Do you have your team ready?"

"The rest of them will be arriving shortly," I said with a small smile. "Don't worry about me. Focus on your team."

Shikamaru gave a nod. "Alright. Let's move out everyone."

"About time," Kiba muttered.

"Hey, why can't I lead?" Naruto asked.

"You're not a Chūnin," Neji answered.

Shikamaru ignored them, turning and running off. The others turned to follow him, leaving Lee and me behind.

I gave Lee a glance. "I'll allow you to follow after them shortly by yourself. The rest of the backup won't be arriving for a little big longer."

Lee nodded his head. "Yosh! I understand."

I smiled. "Good. Now to kill time… Wanna grab some breakfast? I haven't eaten yet."

"L-Like a date?" Lee asked, his eyes wide and his face lit up.

I raised an eyebrow. "No. Like two _friends_ grabbing food together."

"I understand! Love blossoms with much more beauty between friends than strangers!"

"No… Lee-san... I don't think you _do_ understand…"

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

I took another long sip of my strawberry milk, pondering when I should send Lee out.

Gaara claimed he and his siblings would be arriving at Konoha by ten this morning in his letter. Shikamaru and his team left for Sasuke around seven this morning. Let's see… Gaara and his siblings followed closely behind Lee. At least fifteen minutes apart. But I also have to keep in mind that Lee is faster than Gaara so in truth it's probably closer to twenty five minutes.

So based on that, I should send Lee out around nine thirty five. But I also have to keep in mind that Gaara might come earlier than expected.

** Doubtful. Gaara has always been a bit on the punctual side.**

That's true. So… I'll send Lee out at nine thirty five and follow behind him with Gaara and the others at around ten.

I gave a nod to myself. Now we just have some time to kill.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Nine thirty four, Lee and I stood at the front gates.

"Lee-san," I said, "in one minute, you will take off here and proceed to catch up with the main group. If you see anyone of the main group comrades unconscious, do not stop and help them. I will be following shortly behind you and I will give them medical treatment. You need to catch up with Naruto and the others. Understand?"

Lee gave a firm nod. "I understand!"

"Good," I said with a smile. "Now… begin!"

Lee was gone in a flash.

I bit my bottom lip, hoping my calculations were accurate enough. I then tucked my hands in the pockets of my pants and waited for Gaara and the others to show up.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Ten exactly, Gaara, Temari and Kankuro stood in front of me at the village entrance. My face lit up when I saw them. I rushed forward, my arms out stretched.

I wrapped my arms around a very stiff Gaara. "Hey buddy!"

I pulled away as Temari and Kankuro snickered.

"Sakura," Gaara greeted me. "Were you waiting long for us?"

"Not really," I said. "But… look, I know you guys are probably tired after a long trip here but something has come up. An emergency mission that I need your help with, like now."

"What's up?" Temari asked, frowning.

"My teammate, Uchiha Sasuke has… left the village. He's being guarded by the Sound Four. Shikamaru, Chōji, Kiba, Neji and Naruto left earlier this morning to retrieve him. I was assigned as back up. I sent Lee on a head of us and I was hoping you three would assist me in backup."

They were quiet for a moment before Gaara spoke. "I understand. I will… assist you."

"Same with me, I owe you for helping me out at the exams," Temari said.

"I might as well too," Kankuro said.

I beamed. "Thank you, very much. Oh. Before I forget, please take these."

I rummaged through my back pocket before pulling out four radio sets. I handed one to each of them. "This way we'll be able to communicate."

They each set up the wiring before we all tuned into the same wave link. I smiled. "So… ready?"

"Lead the way."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

I ran through the forest, only the sound of my footsteps hitting the tree branch along with two other sets filling the silence. Ahead of me I could make out the familiar crater. I jumped down to the center of the crater, glancing at the body of one of the Sound Four. Just as before. I blinked owlishly, pulling my gaze away from it and scanning the surrounding area.

My eyes landed on a familiar figure. I hurried towards him, stopping befor ehim and quickly kneeling down and placing my hand on his forehead.

A heartbeat passed before I withdrew my hand and addressed one of the two sets of feet that had been following. A Gaara clone. I had sent Gaara, Temari and Kankuro ahead of me to find the others. Gaara left me behind two sand clones at my request.

"Please carry Chōji back to the village, stat. Take him to the hospital and inform Hokage-sama more will follow behind him."

The sand clone dipped his head before moving to grab Chōji. I motioned for the second one to follow me. I raised my hand up to my ear, buzzing in. "I've found Chōji and he's currently being taken back to Konoha."

It was quiet before Temari buzzed in. "No luck finding the others. We'll report when we have."

"Understood."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

It was a while before I found Neji.

I knelt beside Neji, my hands glowing a bright green. Chakra exhaustion, poison, severely wounded… I pulled back after a moment and looked up at the clone.I frowned as I looked down at him, muttering under my breath, "He's in critical condition as well. I've only placed his pyshical body in a statis to prolong his life for a while. We need to take him back to the village."

"Gaara?" I asked, raising my head. As the second clone moved to grab Neji, I buzzed in. No one had caught up with anyone else yet. I stood up, watching Gaara head back to the village, the sun now replaced with the moon above us. My eyes narrowed.

I knew what I was getting in to. I knew Sasuke had to leave because otherwise the Curse Mark would kill him and he needed to know how to control it. I knew it was this team that needed to go on this mission. They all had to fight with certain Sound Four members to gain the necessary knowledge to know how to prepare themselves for Shippuden. Chouji needed to steel his resolve. Neji needed to reaffirm his new belief Naruto gave him. Kiba had to have a fresh dose of reality about his actual skill level. Shikamaru needed to understand what it meant to be a leader...

But still.

I knew this. I knew it...

But I couldn't help but feel as if...

Well.

I decided I didn't like this mission.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"Temari checking in. I've made contact with Shikamaru and one of the enemies," Temari said.

"Do they know where Naruto is?" I asked.

A pause before Temari replied. "Shikamaru said Naruto took off ahead of him pursuing one of the enemies."

I pursed my lips. "Which direction?"

"Northeast from my point, directly north from Konoha."

I paused in my running, calculating the direction I should be heading in. "Understood. Thank you. Take Shikamaru with you back to the Konoha when you're done."

"Understood."

Not even a minute of running did Kankuro report in.

"Kankuro reporting. I've made contact with one of the main group members and his dog."

"That'll be Kiba and Akamaru," I said. "Enemies?"

"One… er two."

"Take care of them and head back to the village with Kiba and Akamaru."

"Understood."

I pushed chakra into my feet, hoping to speed up the process in meeting up with Naruto. Minutes ticked by before Gaara buzzed in.

"Gaara reporting… I've made contact with a Konoha Genin and one hostile."

"Is Naruto with him?" I asked.

A pause. "He says Naruto took after Sasuke. Heading North—towards the Valley of End."

"Thank you. I'm closing in on you so I'll meet up with you shortly. Feel free to kick the enemy's ass if you want with your sheer amazingness."

"…Understood."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

I landed in front of Gaara and Lee, my back turned to the bone forest. Gaara and Lee were sitting down, Gaara looking out of breath and Lee a little worse for wear.

"Are you two alright?" I asked, kneeling down in front of them.

"I'm just a little tired, Sakura-san!" Lee exclaimed. "Nothing a good sleep won't fix."

I nodded, moving my left hand to place it over Lee's forehead. I sent in waves of my chakra, supplying his physical body with new energy as well as easing his fatigue. A moment passed before I withdrew my hand and placed it on Gaara's forehead.

I frowned. "You're sand armor makes it more difficult to heal."

Gaara didn't reply.

"You're only suffering from chakra exhaustion. Can the two of you make it back to Konoha?" I asked, withdrawing my hand.

"We'll be fine, Sakura-san!" Lee exclaimed. I glanced at Gaara.

"We shall be alright," He confirmed. "I take it you will pursue… him?"

I nodded my head. "Report back to Hokage-sama when you return, please. When I return I'll have a very tired Naruto with me."

Lee shot me a curious look. "What about Sasuke?"

I stood up, brushing off dirt. "In all honesty? I doubt he'll be there by the time I arrive. Whether that means SPID sent reinforcements to collect his unconscious body, or he managed to crawl away, I don't know."

I gave a nod to them. "See you when I get back."

"Be careful, Sakura-san," Lee said.

I turned and sprinted away, chasing after my two teammates and secretly thinking that maybe I should have stopped Sasuke.

Not that I would admit that to anyone, of course.

Not like it would make a difference anyway.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

I landed in front of Naruto. My son laid unconscious at the feet of the statue of the First Hokage. The dark skies above us were pouring down heavily with rain. Absently I wondered if it meant something.

I knelt beside him, placing my hand over his forehead. A second passed before I withdrew my hand. My eyes drifted over to the discarded headband that lay at his side with a single scratch on it. My chest felt unbearably heavy at that moment and guilt gnawed away at my stomach.

Almost robotically, I picked up the headband, and placed it on Naruto's stomach. My arms slid underneath him and I picked him up.

Sasuke was nowhere to be found.

Slowly, I turned and took the first step to the long journey home.

I wondered if I should have come here sooner, if I really should have stopped Sasuke despite the fact that I _knew_ I shouldn't.

But I didn't wonder for long.

I shoved my guilt away and steeled my emotions.

Because it was too late now.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

To Sakura,

I don't have a special place.

But I would like to visit yours.

Gaara

* * *

_Losing a friend can be hard, even if you belive you'll get them back._

**_Question on relationships...? _**

_I will not have any relationships for Sakura before Shippuden. During Shippuden perhaps but they will not dominate the story. You'll just have to wait and see. ;)_

_Reviews are love._

_See you Tuesday/Friday._


	28. Letters and Ramen

_"Don't worry, one day you'll find your Prince Charming. Mine? Oh, well you see _my _Prince Charming took the wrong bus, got lost int he forest, fell off a boat in the middle of the ocean, washed up on some deserted island, was rescued by pirates, reached a whole other country and is _still _too stubborn to ask for directions." - Anonymous_

_**Disclaimer: **Naruto is Kishimoto's toy. I'm just playing with it._

_**Warning: **Language._

* * *

Dear Gaara,

If you could be any animal what would you be?

What's your favorite movie?

Do you like swimming?

Ever been sand sledding?

How's the weather?

Always curious,

Sakura

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Kakashi met us halfway. Naruto had moved to piggyback me, his eyes were creaked open but he never said a word. I left him to his thoughts for the most part.

I stopped on a tree branch, just as Kakashi landed on the same branch. His lone eye gazed at me before falling onto Naruto. He didn't say a thing, he didn't need to. Pakkun landed beside him, sniffing the air.

"They fought at the Valley of End," I said quietly. "Sasuke was gone when I arrived."

"How ironic," Pakkun said.

Kakashi gave a slow nod. "… How is he?"

"Exhausted," I said. "He'll live. Fluffy made sure to heal him very well for me. How are the others?"

"Everyone has made it back, thanks to you," Kakashi said. I shook my head in denial at his comment but he continued. "I left before I could find anything else."

"Then we better hurry back," I murmured.

I kicked off from the branch, Kakashi and Pakkun following behind me shortly after.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Naruto was safely tucked into a hospital bed, all wrapped up in bandages now. Kakashi left to report to Tsunade for me so I could stay with Naruto.

I sat on the bed with him, neither of us talking. Naruto continued to stare off into space, oblivious to his surroundings. I moved my arm, pulling him into a comforting hug. He sagged into my arms, his head drooping.. I patted his head.

"You did a good job son," I said.

He tensed. "No... Sasuke he—"

"You did a good job," I said again, this time a bit firmer. "You kicked his ass, even if you lost. So what if he ran away this time? We'll bring him home eventually. Just you wait."

He didn't respond.

I squeezed him. "I promise, Naruto. We'll bring him back—in fact, I bet I'll bring him home before you can."

He gave a crooked grin. "As if, Momma. If anyone's going to knock sense into Teme, it's going to be me."

"That's the spirit," I cooed. "I'm proud of you."

His grin widened.

The door to the room opened and Shikamaru stepped in. "Ah, there you are."

"Yo," I greeted. Naruto gave a cheery grin at Shikamaru. "How is everyone?"

"Fine now," Shikamaru said. "Good call on the backup."

I shrugged. I gave Naruto another tight squeeze. "I should probably find Kakashi-sensei. Hurry up and get better so we can train together with Shisho again, 'kay son?"

"Yep, Momma."

I smiled and ruffled his hair before hopping off the bed. I gave a nod to Shikamaru before I walked out the room to find my sensei.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

I found my sensei, exiting the Hokage office.

"Kakashi-sensei," I greeted. "Wanna go for a walk with me?"

He tilted his head. "I suppose I have some time to kill."

"Excellent! This way!"

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"So everyone's going to be fine," I said while we walked side by side on the bustling streets of Konoha

"That's good. Tsunade-sama wants you to report to her later on today when you have the chance with Shikamaru. Just official stuff, I believe."

"Goody," I said dryly.

We lapsed into silence.

"You know… we don't blame you, Sensei."

Kakashi faltered in his steps for a heartbeat before he recovered. "For what?"

"Duck-Ass leaving," I said, giving him a sidelong glance. "We aren't mad at you. So you shouldn't be mad at yourself. It's pointless to beat yourself up over the past, _especially_ when it's concerned with Duck-Ass."

Kakashi gave a dry chuckle. "And what makes you think I'm beating myself up over it?"

"Because it's you," I answered.

"And you know me so well?"

"Better than you might think. So enough about Duck-Ass. I'll drag him home eventually so don't worry about it, okay?" I asked.

"Mn."

We walked a bit more before a familiar red head caught my attention. My eyes widened. "Gaara-kun!"

"It's Gaara-_kun_ now?" Kakashi asked, his eyes crinkling in amusement. I stuck my tongue out at him before rushing forward.

I glomped Gaara. Gaara stiffened but didn't push me away. Beside him, Temari and Kankuro snickered. Well, Temari just flat out laughed. Gaara carefully patted my head, albeit a bit awkwardly.

"How are you guys?" I asked, still hugging Gaara.

"Fine. We were actually about to check into our lodgings," Temari said. "But Kankuro's complaining for food."

"I can't help it if we haven't eaten all day," Kankuro muttered.

"Food?" I echoed. "Well if that's the case, I know someplace we can go. Kakashi-sensei, wanna tag along?"

"That depends, where are we going?" Kakashi asked.

"Ichiraku," I said with a huge grin.

Kakashi chuckled. "Naruto is going to kill you for eating there without him."

"Kill her?" Gaara questioned.

"He wouldn't kill me—I'm his mother," I sniffed.

Kakashi shook his head, clearly amused. "I suppose though, I could eat as well."

"Yay," I chirped. "This way everyone."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"I'll take Naruto's usual," I told Teuchi. He chuckled.

Gaara gave me a curious look. "Does Naruto eat here often?"

"Every chance he gets," Kakashi said, ordering his own meal.

"You weren't kidding when you said he lived off this stuff?" Temari asked, also ordering her own meal.

"Nope," I said happily.

Gaara turned to Teuchi. "I will also have Naruto's usual."

"Sure thing," Teuchi replied.

Once the bowls of delicious ramen was served, I wasted no time in scarfing it down. Much to my displeasure, Kakashi still finished before me. I licked my lips.

"So Sakura," Temari remarked casually. "You're always exchanging letters with Gaara, _you_ don't mind if I read them do you?"

I blinked. "What?"

"She does too," Kankurou snapped before I could say any more. "It's an invasion of her's and Gaara's privacy, Temari."

"Uh-?"

"Oh no she doesn't," Temari said with a roll of her eyes. "She's better than that. Besides, Gaara doesn't mind if I read them. Do you, Gaara?"

Gaara blinked at her.

"Exactly," Temari said with a nod of her head.

"Um," I began, "I guess I don't? It's up to Gaara-kun anyway. I mean, you _are_ his sister and a pretty kick-ass kunoichi. Hell, I wouldn't mind sending letters to you if you want."

Temari paused, thinking it over. "You know... That wouldn't be too bad. But I'm not really the writing-letters-kind of girl. I think I'll stick to just reading yours and Gaara's. I might send you a letter or two occassionally though..."

"What about me?" Kankurou asked with a frown. "Don't I get the offer to exchange letters?"

"Of course you do," I assured him. "Do you want to?"

"No, I just wanted the offer. It's nice to feel wanted, you know?"

"Ah, completely understandable. Kakashi do _you_ want to exchange letters with me?" I inquired, turning towards said sensei.

Kakashi tilted his head slightly. "I see you every day."

"You're point?"

"... I'll pass. Is it true you'll be joining Jiraiya and Naruto on their journey?"

I blinked. "How'd you find that out? Naruto doesn't even know he's going on a journey with Shisho."

"Jiraiya mentioned it when I ran into him after my debriefing with the Hokage."

"Oh. Sorta."

"Wait. You're going on a journey with Jiraiya-sama. As in Jiraiya-sama of the _Sannin?_" Kankurou frowned.

"She is," Gaara said quietly. "Though she will not leave at the same time Naruto and Jiraiya-sama do."

"How do you know that?" Kankurou asked.

"I told him," I informed him.

"Even I knew that," Temari said with a shrug.

"What do you mean not at the same time though?" Kankurou persisted. "Are you waiting a while or what...?"

"Kakashi and Tsunade-sama will be kidnapping me for a year before I join them," I explained.

"I will?" Kakashi blinked. "I mean... I _will?_"

"Yes," I assured him. "I know. You're so excited to be spending such fantastic quality time with your _favorite_ student."

"I don't remember agreeing to this," Kakashi said.

"You don't really have a choice," I said with a smile. "On the bright side it will count as a _paid_ mission. A paid B-Rank year-long mission. Just like Naruto and Shisho."

"Oh?"

"You aren't going to be starting right away, just whenever you want to actually... right?" Temari glanced towards me.

I nodded in affirmation. "Correct. Technically we could get started now but I don't think either of us want to. And you'll only be training me until I've 'mastered' enough in your eyes before Tsunade-sama hogs me all to herself."

"I see," Kakashi muttered softly.

I eyed Temari. "You really do read all of our letters?"

"Not _all_," Temari admitted. "Just whatever ones Gaara doesn't hide away. Sorry, _hoard_ away."

"You hoard my letters?" I asked Gaara.

Gaara eyed me impassively. "I do not hoard them. I merely keep them safe. I do not trust Kankurou and Temari with important documents. Kankurou has a habit of setting them on fire and Temari tends to lose them."

"_One time!_" Kankurou flushed.

Temari shrugged. "Guilty as charged."

I grinned. "You think my letters are important documents?"

Gaara's brow furrowed slightly. "Are they not?"

"Oh no they are if you think they are," I said quickly. "I was just pleasantly surprised."

"I bet you were," Temari said slyly.

I stuck my tongue out at her.

"Speaking of pleasant surprises," Kankurou said loudly. "Since we've officially visited Konoha aside from necessity, when are you going to visit Suna?"

"Whenever Tsunade-sama allows me to. I know for sure I'll drop by your village before I meet up with Shisho and Naruto for our journey though. Sooner than that, who knows? Maybe Kakashi-sensei and I will get a mission around there... hell I'm willing to act as a messenger. Think that could work, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Probably," Kakashi agreed.

"Excellent," Temari declared. "It's hard to find good kunoichi around my age that aren't useless fan girls."

I grinned. "Even in Suna?"

"Even in Suna," she said with a sigh.

"Well just say the word and I'll play messenger for free to head over to Suna," I promised her.

"I'll hold you to that," Temari said.

Suddenly being reminded of something else entirely, I turned to Teuchi. "Teuchi, can I get three orders of Naruto's usual to go?"

"Hmm? What for?" Teuchi asked.

"Naruto's in the hospital and Shizune would hunt him down if he tried to escape—again."

Teuchi laughed. "Alright. Well then those three bowls are on the house then."

I beamed. "Thank you Teuchi-san!"

Kankuro gave a satisfied sigh, finishing his bowl. "I guess I can see the appeal of eating here every day."

Temari finished hers. "I think I'd get sick of it after the third day."

Gaara said nothing, merely finishing his own.

Kakashi tilted his head. "Well, I must say this has been fun but I'll be taking my leave now. Later."

I waved goodbye as Kakashi left, successfully footing me with his bill. I was used to it. I turned to the Sand Siblings. "This is my treat guys."

"Oh well, if that's the case, I'll have another bowl…" Kankuro trailed off at my dark look. He held up his hands. "Kidding."

I beamed. "Well, I should probably bring Naruto his food. Later guys."

Before I grabbed the to-go boxes, I placed the money on the counter and I quickly hugged Gaara again, inwardly squealing. Gaara didn't even bother to react. I think he was getting used to it.

I smiled at that.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

After dropping off Naruto's ramen(he was ever so grateful) and grabbing Shikamaru (he was _not_ grateful), I dragged said lazy shinobi to Tsunade's office for the report. The report was uneventful, as to be expected and finally I was sent home for rest. Home sweet home.

I relished sleeping in my own bed again.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

The next morning, after grabbing some breakfast, Jiraiya met me outside my house. I bit into the apple I was eating, raising an eyebrow at him. He grinned. "Naruto is still in the hospital, and I believe I promised you a new jutsu."

I grinned back at him. "That you did. Lead the way."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

We sat across from each other, at the same river he had trained Naruto and me at during the exams.

"So, have you been able to summon anyone else other than Doku and G… Gedo?" Jiraiya asked.

"No, why?"

"Just curious. Do you want to give it a shot before we train?"

I shrugged. "Sure."

I bit my palm before attempting a summon… once the smoke cleared it revealed Doku and Gedo.

"The hell? I wasn't trying to summon you guys," I muttered.

_~Sorry,_ Sakura-sama._ Who were you trying to summon?~_

"Anyone really, just to see if I can."

_-Well there's your problem. That's just rude. Summoning complete strangers… tch. Let Gedo and I introduce you to them first before you try summoning on your own.-_

I shrugged. "Whatever asshole. Who do you have in mind?"

Doku sniffed at the insult but let it slide. _-Try the summon again.-_

"Mmk."

I summoned once again… this time when the smoke cleared was a fairly large salamander. At least as big as me. It was also a sickly white—almost transparent. Red eyes flickered towards me, along with a tilted head.

_. . . Greetings Summoner. I am Shin. How may I be of service to you? . . . _

"Hi Shin," I greeted him, noting how his voice was low and whispery. It was quiet too. I would have to concentrate when he spoke. "I just wanted to meet another salamander I could summon."

_. . . I see. I am the Keeper of Seals. No barrier or seal can hold me, and no secret is safe so long as I am alive. . . . _

"Wow that's… actually really cool. What's the catch?" I asked curiously.

Shin seemed to smile. _. . . Very astute guess, Summoner. While no secret is safe from me, in retrieving these secrets can be very dangerous for those who summon me. . . ._

"Dangerous how?"

_. . . So long as I am active in my pursuit of seals, the one who summoned me is immobile. Their chakra is cut off and they are unable to move. While this may not seem such a risk, my summoner must be near me while I retrieve of the secrets. As you can imagine, most secrets are kept in less than savory places and to be unable to move in those places—no protection or ability to hide is… dangerous. . . . _

"I can see why," I muttered, frowning.

_~We have yet to have a summoner to use Shin and live.~_ Gedo's voice was surprising light despite what she was saying. _~But we've only ever had one other summoner who bothered to summon Shin. Most users of the salamander prefer our poisonous way.~_

I gave a nod. "Interesting. But I have a feeling I'll be summoning Shin again."

Shin dipped his head before poofing away. I tilted my head, and Gedo and Doku poofed away as well.

"Well… I guess now you can summon three," Jiraiya said, slightly amused.

"I guess I can," I replied. "So what technique did you want to show me?"

Jiraiya grinned. "Earth Flow River."

I racked my brain, trying to remember where I've heard that before. It came to me slowly. "Isn't that where you turn the ground underneath the opponent into a river of mud—or a pit of mud? The river leads the target away and the pit traps the opponent for a short time…"

"Correct," Jiraiya said. "There's only one handseal for this—Tiger. However it can be a bit difficult as you cannot directly send your chakra to a single place."

I gave a nod. "Okay… so how do I practice?"

Jiraiya pointed to a group of trees on the opposite side of the river. "See if you can sink one of those trees."

I stood up, dusting off the dirt. "Alright."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

A week passed before Naruto was allowed out of the hospital to train. He began his training with Jiraiya. I would have joined them, but I found myself training with someone else, much to my surprise. Jiraiya told me he would prefer to solo train with Naruto for a bit so he asked him but… I was still a little shocked he accepted.

"I have to admit, I don't know a lot of earth moves," Kakashi said. "But I can teach you other moves. I do have one water technique that will take quite some time to master it. Especially considering you aren't a water type."

I raised an eyebrow.

Kakashi motioned towards the small lake he had dragged me to—it was training ground eleven. "This lake will become your best friend."

I kept my eyebrow raised.

"And keep in mind," Kakashi said, "I'm only showing you this because I believe you can master it. Truly and sincerely. And because this will take a while to master you might be in my care for quite some time and I'll have to stay off the mission rooster and be forced to stay here, watch you, and read porn all day. So take all the time you need to."

Ah. So that's what this was about.

"That's incredibly cunning, I'm impressed," I amended. Kakashi's eye crinkled. "So what is this super complicated technique?"

"Water Dragon Jutsu," Kakashi replied. "The same technique I copied from Zabuza. Really, the only complicated part of it is the handseals…"

"And what are the handseals?" I asked.

Kakashi took a deep breath. "Ox, Monkey, Hare, Rat, Boar, Bird, Ox, Horse, Bird, Rat, Tiger, Dog, Tiger, Snake, Ox, Ram, Snake, Boar, Ram, Rat, Yang Water, Monkey, Bird, Dragon, Bird, Ox, Horse, Ram, Tiger, Snake, Rat, Monkey, Hare, Boar, Dragon, Ram, Rat, Ox, Monkey, Bird, Yang Water, Rat, Boar and finally, Bird."

I stared at him, my jaw slack.

Kakashi seemed to smile at me. I recovered, blinking furiously at him. "Could you – I mean… could you repeat that? Slower… oh and write it down for me?"

Kakashi pulled out a piece of paper with barely legible writing on it. I stared at it. "Oh… Okay. Well… Any… uh… tips?"

Kakshi's smile seemed to widen. "Try not to get too wet."

"Thanks."

I walked towards the lake, staring down at the paper and trying to recite the seemingly impossibly long list of handseals. Meanwhile, Kakashi all too happily pulled out his porn and read, deciding to leave me to my own devices.

I continued to stare at the list. This was going to take a while…

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

To Sakura,

I don't know.

I don't know.

No.

No.

Hot.

Gaara

* * *

_Training, training, oh how there's so much training..._

**_Two more chapters until Shippuden. Are you excited?_**

_Reviews are love. _

_See you Tuesday/Friday._


	29. Root Isn't So Bad

_"Dear Students,_

_I know when you're texting. No one just looks down at their crotch and smiles._

_Sincerely, Observant Teacher_

_-Observant Teacher"_

_**Disclaimer: **Naruto is Kishimoto's toy. I'm just playing with it._

_**Warning: **Language._

* * *

Dear Gaara,

I don't know what else to write. I've run out of conversation starters. Therefore, I'm passing the torch onto you. :D You get to come up with questions. Have fun.

Yours,

Sakura

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Months had passed and routine slowly took in place. Between unimportant missions, and training with Kakashi (Jiraiya had left a week after Kakashi decided to train me), nothing else of note happened. Naruto went on all sorts of crazy adventures and I only had a total of two missions outside of the village where I lead as a Chūnin. But they were extremely boring. No, seriously, they were.

But finally… _that_ day came.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Naruto stood beside Jiraiya, looking eager and determined. His pack was slung over his shoulders and he seemed to brim with excitement.

I looked up at Jiraiya. "You remember the plan?"

Jiraiya snorted. "Are you doubting me?"

I only smiled.

Jiraiya shook his head. In a bored tone he recited the plan,"In one year, I will send you a discreet message telling you where to meet us. Then you will train under me alongside Naruto for a year and a half. During _this_ year though, you will finish your training under Tsunade and further your training with Kakashi."

His voice dropped low enough for Naruto to not be able to hear him. "And you will also carry out your… plan."

I gave a nod. "Yep."

I turned to Naruto, quickly hugging him before I ruffled his hair. "So I'll see you in a year."

Naruto nodded. "Then we can train together be kick-ass and then we'll bring home Teme."

I grinned before turning to Jiraiya and hugging him too. He patted my head. "Alright… be careful you two. Naruto, don't take ramen from strangers. Jiraiya, don't get caught peeping again."

Naruto and Jiraiya gave me a sheepish smile.

My smile turned a bit rueful. "Damn shame you won't be able to write, but whatever. No one should be able to track your whereabouts. Take care… both of you."

They both assured me they would be fine before they both turned away and walked out of the village. I wouldn't say it aloud… but I would miss them.

Although, now wasn't the time to worry about them. Now I had to set into actions my own plans. It was finally time to start changing the plot. I was taking actions into my own hands and I was damn straight going to give this reality a happy ending.

Failure was not even an option.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"Kakashi-sensei?" I asked, taking a break from training for lunch. Kakashi glanced up from his book, tilting his head.

"Yes Sakura?"

I sat down across from him, pulling out the two bentos I made for us. He happily took his usual lunch while I carefully set mine down.

"Do you trust the Elders?" I asked quietly.

To his credit, Kakashi didn't show any outwards reaction. Instead he merely took his time in replying. "To some extent."

"Do you know about Root?" I asked, my voice still quiet.

Once again, to his credit Kakashi didn't even flinch at the dangerous name. But his voice was guarded when he asked, "And how do you know about Root, Sakura?"

I tilted my head. "I take it you do then. Then… what do you think about it?"

"You didn't answer my question, Sakura. Who told you?"

"No one told me," I said honestly. "I merely… saw a few things. Don't worry about it. I'm only a little curious. I was hoping you could answer some questions?"

Kakashi was quiet for a moment before he responded. "What would you like to know?"

"Who leads it?" I asked, despite knowing the answer. But it was better to pretend completely ignorant. It would be too dangerous to display anything more than beyond knowing that there _might_ be a Root.

I was pretty sure this world was as close to cannon as I could make it. I kept it this way for so long so that way I would be able to predict the more important things without having to worry too much about being incorrect. People who have been in my situation (or situations similiar) have a tendancy to change this completely right off the bat. Because of that they lose their most powerful and helpful ability. To know what comes next.

There was a war coming up. People I've come to care about are going to die because of that. I _cannot_ risk not knowing what is going to happen next. Not until I'm sure the alternative will be better.

But just because I've seen things so close to cannon and kept it as cannon as I would allow myself, doesn't mean it's completely cannon.

For instance, the fact that Kakashi just openly admitted to there even _being_ a Root proves that this isn't entirely on base with the cannon. Root here could be drastically different that what I have seen and read before. Though probably not by much.

If I were to take a guess, I would assume that Root in this world was something the higher ups knew about. Something that Konoha would outright deny exists to anyone on the outside. But also something Konoha realizes it needs, even if reluctantly.

If Kakashi answered my next question it would confirm my afformentioned theory. If he does not, and goes back to denying its existence then I can assume things are more close to cannon as I originally planned on.

But if he answered it...

"Supposedly Danzō," Kakashi replied.

For a heartbeat I had to struggle to keep the triumphant smile off my face. If Kakashi knew about Root and was willing to discuss it at _all_ with me then that probably meant that Root wasn't a direct threat to him or me. That was good. That was very good. It meant that a.) Root wasn't as corrupt as I had originally estimated, they didn't have complete control over Konoha from underground or at least enough to scare off Kakashi b.) If I were to somehow be captured in my plan then the possibility of my death just decreased, even if slightly. c.) He might know the things I need to know.

"Danzō, hmm?" I murmured. "So then Root must be stationed at his home, right?"

"No," Kakashi said. "Where Root is stationed is unknown to everyone with the exception of Danzō and maybe the Hokage."

"But that makes no sense for Danzō to not have his prized team so readily at his home," I said. "What else doesn't he keep at home, I wonder?"

"I don't know. Only Danzō is allowed inside," Kakashi answered.

"Really? What about his family?"

"He doesn't have any."

"Friends?"

"He's very much alone."

"Hmm," I hummed. "So in short, Danzō could be harboring all sorts of nasty little secrets in his home and no one would know the wiser because no one is allowed in?"

"… I suppose you could look at it that way."

"Does he have any other hiding spots?" I asked.

Kakashi stared at me. "Sakura, why are you asking all these questions?"

"Does he?" I pressed.

Kakashi sighed. "When I was in the ANBU, I had guarded Danzō briefly. As far as I had known the only places he visits are the Hokage's office, his home and where Root training is stationed."

"Have you been to Root's training grounds?" I asked curiously.

Kakashi shook his head. "Why are you so curious about this?"

"Because I like knowing stuff."

"Don't concern yourself with Danzō," Kakashi said a little sternly.

"Why?" I prompted meekly.

Kakashi sent me a withering glare. I didn't press any further.

I had enough information to know where to begin.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

At eleven thirty, later that night, I summoned my fourth salamander.

Hensou was a very small salamander—no bigger than my palm—and was black as night with a white underbelly. He was very friendly and cheerful and often reminded me of Naruto without his mischievous side.

_!-Hi Sakura-sama. Are we transforming tonight?-!_

I smiled. Hensou had the ability to transform the summoner into a regular salamander. Not a henge that uses chakra but an actual, honest to goodness salamander with no chakra, and thus no way to be detected.

"Yep. We're going on a mission."

_!-Oh boy a mission! This'll be our very first mission together Sakura-sama. What are we going to do?-!_

"This time around?" I asked. "We're only scouting."

_!-Scouting? Scouting where?-!_

I smiled, opening my hand. Hensou crawled into it, his head tilted high as he looked at me with excited eyes. I pointed at the a large compound hidden behind leeringly tall walls. "That."

_!-Roger!-!_

I felt a rush of warmth heard a small poof before I found myself staring up at the impossibly large buildings and staring eye to eye with Hensou. I examined myself quickly, making sure everything was in working order.

One good thing about Hensou's transformation—it brought the clothes along with it.

_Ready to go._ I told him.

_!-Oh boy, oh boy! Okay, follow me.-!_

I smiled, probably a disturbing sight for a tiny regular salamander. But as Hensou began to scramble quickly towards Danzō's home, I complied and followed right after him.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

This place was quiet. Eerily so.

Maybe it was just because I was so small, looking up at everything, but it seemed like everything—and I mean _everything_—was leering down at me. It was creepy. But Hensou seemed unbothered by it all and pressed on.

_!-So what exactly are we looking for?-!_

_ I'm not quite sure. We're looking for a room with a bunch of secret documents, I suppose. It'll be sealed, most likely, or –even more likely—hidden. _

_ !-Ah. So how do we find this room?-!_

_ I don't know. Just look around and let me know if you find any… um… hollow walls, strange seals, umm… anything that looks even remotely out of the ordinary?_

_ !-Why does that sound like a question?-!_

_ Because I've never done this kind of stuff before in real life. I mean, I've played mystery and clue games but that's so much different than…_

_ !-Oooh. Well… Not to worry. I'm sure we'll find something!-!_

I flicked my tail as I entered another room, Hensou entered on the room opposite to mine. _Probably. The question is what? Even if we don't find what I'm looking for specifically it's always possible that we could at least find something to give us a clue to where the training grounds are. Though I _highly _doubt he would keep something so important at training grounds._

Hensou decided not to answer that. I glanced around what I thought to be a study. I sniffed the air with my enhanced salamander nose trying to find—something? I wasn't sure what but I sniffed anyway.

**Stop it.**

I froze.

**You're just walking around in circles, idiot. Why don't you try and actually think this through?**

I bit back a snide remark and did as instructed. Inner had yet to lead me astray.

**What are you looking for?**

The Uchiha Massacre documents. The documents that give the official order to Uchiha Itachi, signed by the Third Hokage, Danzō and the Elders.

**What makes you think there is such a thing?**

There's always a document. Besides, if there wasn't then the order never became official—meaning it was false—meaning Itachi was under no obligation to kill his own family. Though, the real reasoning behind the document was for emergency cases. In case Itachi had to return to Konoha for its better protection the document would serve as proof of Itachi's loyalty-or a way to clear away his charges, really.

**Why do you think Danzō hasn't destroyed the document?**

I racked my brain for that one for a bit, it took me a moment to remember my reasoning.

He _can't_. Not because he doesn't want to but because he _cannot._ For orders of S-Rank and above, they must be signed and consented by the Hokage and at least four members of the Council, or two Elders and the Hokage. The document goes under special treatment—special sealing that make it nearly indestructible.

Should the document receive any sort of damage, those who signed the document would immediately be alerted as well as the current Hokage, current Council members and current Elders. Danzō could not destroy the document without alerting any of the Council members. Not to mention destroying the document at all would have released the seal around it. The seal would activate, creating a second document that would appear in the hands of the ANBU Head Captain and taken to the current Hokage. Should there be no active Hokage in place, the ANBU Head Captain will safeguard the document until a new Hokage has been chosen.

Danzō could not allow Tsunade—or anyone else for that matter—to see the document. It would… well… ruin everything for him.

Not to mention I doubt he particualry wants to destroy it. He seems like the kind of guy to have all sorts of back up and that document would probably be useful if he ever wanted Itachi back in Konoha. For whatever reason.

**Therefore there must be a document.**

Therefore there must be a document.

**So where do you think he's hiding it?**

Some place where he can guard it personally, I would imagine. Well, not _personally_-too risky for exposure that way. But someplace close to home. Someplace only he and his truly loyal followers go. In truth, I think it would be in that one place where we first saw Sai and Danzō. But… the only clue I have for that place is that it's _not_ outside of the Konoha like the Root training ground is.

Honestly, I had hoped for Kakashi to know of any other places Danzō owned or used that would be the entrance to that place but… The only other place for the entrance to be would be in Danzō's home. After all Danzō couldn't have that many Root bases, perhaps one or two-more likely just one since the Invasion and Tsunade's appointment as the new Hokage. If he had more it would draw attention to Root and Root is supposed to be pretty much off the radar. More bases, higher liklihood of being found out. But one base... one base close to his home where he could personally guard it... that would be the most logical choice.

**Good assumption for an idiot. What do you remember about that place?**

It was underground. Cold. Wet. Like the sewers. Cement. Dark.

**Now what would that smell like?**

Damp, like mold. Musky maybe. Cold, sharp.

**What does Danz****ō****'s home originally smell like?**

Musky. Old. Empty.

**Musky.**

… Musky.

**So?**

I was quiet for a moment.

… So the entrance to the underground hideout _might_ be here?

**Very good. **

Nice touch with the sarcasm.

**You too. So now, what are you going to smell for?**

Whichever room has a sharper smell to it, cold and moldy.

**Good. Now you can stop wandering around like an idiot.**

Mm.

I sniffed the air again, wandering around the room and trying to find any sort of distinct scent. This study looked untouched, like it was merely there for show.

_A shame though,_ I mused, looking at all these books and scrolls piled up on the tall book shelves.

I sniffed the air once more, circling the room two more times—finding nothing—before heading out and informing Hensou what exactly to look for.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Dawn was approaching. Dawn was approaching and we did not find an entrance.

I was tired. I was hungry. I was irritated.

But mostly just irritated.

Hensou and I were walking back down the last hallway in the outrageously huge compound (well it was huge to us at least), with me muttering obscene things and Hensou looking amused at my ranting.

_Stupid _fucking_ Danzō. Had to _fucking_ hide the _fucking_ documents because he's a _fucking_ dickhead. _Fuck him so bad.

_!-Sakura-sama, you seem a little annoyed… -!_

_ No shit!_

_ !-Sakura-sama, maybe you should calm down…?-!_

_ I'm too _fucking _pissed to do something like that._

Hensou had stopped beside me, but I continued on, ranting.

_Damn it, why the hell couldn't this be more like a _fucking_ movie?_

_ !-Uh—S-Sakura-sama— -!_

_ I mean _really_. Is it so hard to ask for a nice easy mission? Why the hell do all the missions I have either seem so _fucking_ pointless it's pathetically boring and gives me a headache—or they have to be some _fucking_ overly complicated situation with dangerous stakes?_

_ !-S-Sakura-sama, I really think you should—-!_

_ Dear Kami-Jashin-Pein-God-Hell… Kishimoto, why, _why_ is it so hard to ask for Danz__ō__'s secret entrance that will lead us to his under-_fucking_-ground lair and to the documents? Really? Is it too hard to ask? REALLY?!_

_ !-SAKURA-SAMA! PLEASE SMELL THE AIR HERE!-!_

I was jolted from my rant, forcing me to stare wide-eyed at Hensou. _What?_

_ !-The air here… smell it, please.-!_

Curious, I did as he asked. I sniffed the air.

A sharp musky scent berated my nose and my nose crinkled from it.

Wait…

I sniffed it again, this time trying to discern where it was coming from.

To the right.

My head swung around and I was stuck facing a plain old wall. I crept closer, sniffing very carefully. There was no doubt about it, the scent was coming from behind this wall.

I poked it with my paw. Now how to open it…?

_!-There appears to be a seal on it. It's acting as a sort of lock and keeping the true door hidden as a wall-!_

_ Can you release it?_

_ !-Not now—not without alerting whoever put it up to our presence. I will need time and I will need to talk to Shin about it. After all, seals are his expertise.-!_

_ Would you please?_

_ !-Duh! This is our first mission together. I'm just happy I could be of service at all. I'll be more than happy to try and figure this puzzle out. For now, you should get home and rest, Sakura-sama-!_

I gave a tired, albeit relieved sigh. _Your right. I wonder if Kakashi will let me skip training today so I can sleep?_

Hensou only smiled in reply.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

I snuggled further into the warmth. Cold. So cold. Very cold. I like the warmth. The warmth was good. The warmth was warm and the cold was cold and I didn't like the cold.

I felt something prod at the top of my head. I let out a groan and tightened my hold on the blankets around me. I snuggled further into my soft, warm, bed.

I let out a blissful sigh.

My blankets were ripped away from me.

I screamed.

Loud and long.

The blankets were thrown over me and I stopped screaming, quickly wrapping myself around them and snuggling back in, smiling blissfully.

"I never knew you had such lungs," drawled a voice that was tinged with annoyance.

I ignored it, cuddling with my blankets.

"Get up Sakura. I did not arrive three hours late to our training session just so you could ditch me."

"Goaway," I grumbled, pulling the covers over my head. "Ijustwanna_sleeeeep._"

The cover was pulled down from my head and I was forced to open my eyes. I scowled up at Kakashi, shivering slightly. Why was it so cold in here?

Kakashi's eye crinkled, showing he was frowning.

He lifted a hand and placed it on my forehead. "You have a fever."

Well that explained the chills.

"Goodie for me," I drawled. "Can I go back to sleep?"

Kakashi sighed. "You're sick."

"Whoopie doo. Means I get a day off, can I go back to sleep now?"

"I'm going to have to take you to the doctor."

"Yay for me. Can I go—wait, what? Bullshit. You just have to let me sleep. I'll be fine."

"No. I'm afraid not. You're going to need a shot. Come on, get up."

"No," I cried. "I just want to sleep. _Sleep._ You know? That blissful state where everything seems just a okay? Please for the love of Kami-Jashin-Pein-God let me _sleep!_"

Kakashi was smiling now. It wasn't a nice smile. I had a feeling he didn't like being ditched—no matter the reason. I had a sneaky feeling he feeling spiteful today. Very spiteful.

"Sakura, as your sensei it's my duty to make sure you stay in good health. I can't just leave my student all alone when she's clearly in pain and in need of my assistance, now can I?" Kakashi asked.

"I'm not in pain," I cried. "I'm tired. T-I… R… E-D. Tired. See? I'm too brain dead to think clearly. Let me sleep. Please!"

Kakashi tsked. "And delusional too. It's worse than I thought."

"Nooo," I sobbed mournfully. "Why are you doing this to me? What have I ever done to you?"

Kakashi shook his head, giving me a mock look of concern. "My poor, poor student who is in so much pain and so delusional she dared to ditch me. Tsk, tsk. You poor thing."

"You spiteful man!" I sobbed. "Go away. Lemmmee sleeeeeepp."

Kakashi shook his head again. "Off to the doctor you go."

"Noooooo… sleeeepp. Pleeeasssee… Don't do this to me, man. Don't do it. Just walk away. Just say no. Just leave. Just _let me sleep,_" I begged.

Kakashi's arms slid underneath me and he picked me up. Too fast for my liking because my head began to immediately spin and _hurt._ I let out a pitiful groan and clutched my head. "Oooww…"

"See? You've come to realize you're in pain," Kakashi said as he carried me over to my now open window.

"I was fine until you showed up," I accused. "You gave me a fucking migraine! You evil man. _Evil._"

Despite my accusations, Kakashi seemed unphased. Instead he hopped out of my room through my window and onto my neighbor's roof. He then proceeded to carry me to hospital.

"This makes no sense," I cried pitifully. "I'm a medic-nin, I can take care of myself. And as a medic-nin I declare myself in need of sleep. Sleep you are depriving me of. Put me down. I'll sleep in the streets. I don't care anymore—I just want sleep."

"Tsk, tsk. So delusional," Kakashi said.

I groaned and began to thrash in his arms. Though that only did more harm than good. My head began to pound even harder the more I moved and the damn sun was getting too bright. I gave up and sagged.

I had temporarily resigned myself to my fate.

Kakashi pushed open the hospital doors with his foot—being careful not to _kick_ the doors because he's way too cool for that—and carried me inside. My head dropped down to see the surroundings better.

Much to my surprise, Ino, Inoichi, Shikamaru, Shikaku, Choza and Asuma were standing at the reception desk.

"The hell?" I muttered. That caught their attention. The moment Ino saw me she gaped.

"Sakura, what the hell is wrong with you? Why is your face all red?"

"Ino-chan!" I cried, hope filling me. "Help me, please! This evil man has taken me from my heaven and refuses to let go. Please help me!"

"Kakashi, what are you doing with your student?" Asuma asked, raising an eyebrow.

"She has a high fever," Kakashi said. "I've taken her here to get a shot."

"He's just being spiteful!" I accused. "Please help me."

"Tsk, as you can see, she's quite delusional from her fever."

"Very," Inoichi observed, though there was amusement tinted in his voice.

"Inoo-chan…"

Ino gave me a concerned look. "Sorry Sakura, but you really do look terrible. Maybe you should relax and get some rest."

"That's what I've been trying to do but this—this—this _malevolent_ man has dragged me here against my will and gave me a migraine!"

"Kakashi, I don't think your student is very pleased with you," Asuma informed Kakashi.

Kakashi gave a mock sigh. "Such a shame. And here I thought she cared."

"I hate you," I told Kakashi.

Kakashi smiled.

I scowled.

"We should probably find Chōji now," Shikamaru drawled.

"What's wrong with Chōji?" Kakashi asked politely.

"He overate at the BBQ last night," Ino said with a roll of her eyes.

"I want food," I muttered mournfully. "I want sleep more though. Why can't I sleep? What god have I pissed off enough to deserve this?"

"The vindictive kind," Kakashi told me.

I let out a groan.

Kakashi turned to the receptionist. "Excuse me, but I'm in need of a shot for my student."

The receptionist smiled sweetly at him. "Room 203 is open now. If you'll wait a moment I'll send in a doctor. Please sign in the patient first."

Kakashi looked down at his arms—full of me—and knew that the moment he let me go I would sprint away. Or at least try. Shikaku must have caught his dilemma because he muttered troublesome before signing me in.

I scowled at him. _Traitor_.

"Thank you," Kakashi said before he bid his farewells and carried me down the hallway into room 203. There he set me on the bed.

I let out a blissful sigh and curled up on the cold bed. "G'night."

He smacked my leg and I groaned. "Noooo… don't do this to me. You can't just place me in a bed and not allow me to sleep. That's just mean. You're mean. You meanie."

He ignored me.

I curled back up on the bed, wishing fervently for my blankets and my own bed. My eyes closed tightly. Kakashi smacked my leg again.

I glared at him. "Go away."

"No. You can't fall asleep because if you do, I'll never be able to wake you up for your shot."

"Yes you will," I muttered.

"No I won't," Kakashi assured me.

"Yes you will, you're just being vindictive."

Kakashi didn't reply and I didn't bother trying to go back to sleep. I was once again, resigned to my fate.

Minutes ticked by until the door opened to our room and a doctor stepped in.

"What seems to be the problem?" She asked.

"My student is sick."

"I'm just tired, go away you splenetic pervert."

"And delusional. Very delusional."

The doctor chuckled. "I see. And would the patient please sit up?"

I groaned. "Do I have to?'

The doctor only smiled. I slowly forced myself up, muttering crossly under my breath. The doctor pulled out a swab and asked me to open. Once she swabbed the back of my throat I gagged but she already had her sample. She moved back to her desk, pulling out a thermometer before popping it in my mouth. Seconds passed before she pulled it out, took the measurements and put it away. Before she left the room, Kakashi leaned forward and whispered something to her. She giggled and nodded before leaving.

The minute she was back, she carried a shot, still smiling. I eyed it wearily.

For a flu shot, it had an unusually large needle. I looked at Kakashi. "Can't I just heal myself?"

"Do you know how?" Kakashi asked patiently.

"…No."

"Then let the nice doctor give you your shot."

"I hate you," I told him again.

Kakashi smiled.

The doctor jabbed the needle in my arm and I winced. Once the medicine was out of the bottle she beamed at me. "Good job. Now all you need is a good night's rest."

I grinned at her, but before I could respond, she continued speaking.

"… Or is what I would usually say," She said happily. "But your sensei had asked me to give you an energizer so you would be able to train the minute you were done here. Now you don't need sleep at all! Isn't that wonderful? I know how you shinobi love to train."

I stared at her in horror. She smiled and left the room.

Slowly, I turned to Kakashi, mustering up my darkest and most dangerous glare I could.

He was still smiling.

"_I'm going to fucking murder you._"

He patted my head.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

It took me a week before I could investigate Danzō's home again. This was mainly because I wasn't able to pull an all nighter so long as I trained with Kakashi. So I had to patiently wait until his day off at the end of the week before bothering with Danzō's again.

Eleven at night, once more, I stood outside the compound as a salamander. Hensou and Shin on either side of me.

Another bonus of Shin. Only the those contracted with the Salamanders can see him. Naturally this confused me as Jiraiya knew I was able to summon a third salamander but it eventually came to my attention he knew that because I was virtually talking to thin air and concluded it himself.

Still.

_We ready?_

_ !-Yep!-!_

_ . . . I believe we are. . . ._

I smiled. _Let's go._

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

To Sakura,

I don't like this arrangement. I'm not very skilled in this area.

Can you not simply tell me about your day? What exactly have you been up to?

Gaara

* * *

_Poor Sakura, such an Oni-sensei. Oh well, I don't really know _why _I wrote that. It was fun to write though._

_Last chapter for Part I is next..._

_Reviews are **love**._

_See you Tuesday/Friday._


	30. An Anticlimatic Ending

_**Disclaimer: **Naruto is Kishimoto's toy. I'm just playing with it._

_**Warning: **Language._

* * *

Dear Gaara,

Oh you know what's going on. Naruto left to train with Jiraiya and I'm stuck with my evil sensei and my drunk Hokage for a year.

My day today? Painful. Kakashi wanted to drill me through endurance today. I swear he spends all of his nights thinking of new ways to torture me and somehow covers them up as training.

Evil man.

What about you? You haven't told me much of what goes on with your life except the basic 'It was hotter than usual today.' 'I've run out of reading materials.' 'Kankuro set the kitchen on fire and Temari strangled him to death yet somehow he came back to life.' Etc, etc.

Have you made any new goals? New dreams?

In pain,

Sakura

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

_Holy shit it's cold in here._ I said, shivering.

_!-And dark-!_ Hensou added. _!-But at least it'll be easier to blend in.-!_

_. . . We will not have much time here. The seal I placed over the other one to allow us in will have a timelapse reaction. The way to enter this seal was to discern it's code-it's key. The seal was designed to alert someone, or someone_s_, that someone was entering. The key I designed would have a time lapse and will not alert anyone until two hours have passed. However, at the twenty four hour mark within using the seal it is more than likely that the someone who was alerted to our coming will realize that I did that. It will be very suspicious. . . ._

_I see. _I closed my eyes. _Then it would be best if we were out of here before that two hour mark. While Hensou and I don't have any chakra signatures, Shin, you still do. Even if it's nearly impossible to read this _is _Root's base we're talking about. _

_. . . I understand. I shall do my best . . ._

I gave a slow nod. _I know. __Now if I was a super important document… where would I be hiding? _I glanced at Shin. _I don't suppose you have some super awesome seal detector inside you?_

Shin gave a rare smile. _. . . And if I did?. . . _

_ I would love you for life 'cause you'd save us a shit ton of time._

_ . . . Then I suppose you should start loving me. I can sense seals, the bigger and more complex a seal is, the easier it is to sense. And where the most complex seal is… . . ._

_ Is where the most safe guarded _secrets_ are kept._ I finished with a very large grin. _Shin. I love you._

_ !-Hey, hey, what about me? I helped too, didn't I?-!_

_ Yes you did. Without you I wouldn't be able to do this at all—I'd be caught and killed for sure. So I love you too, Hensou._

Hensou smiled happily.

I turned to Shin. _Lead the way, oh epic one._

Shin dipped his head. _. . . As you wish Sakura-hime. . . ._

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

We stood in front of the impossibly large door with an even impossibly large seal on it. And thankfully, we had yet to run into any ROOT members or Danzō himself. Though I'm betting it was only a matter of time.

I positioned myself as near to the door as possible, pressed up against a wall. Hensou curled up next to me while I settled down. None of us were sure how long it would take for Shin to find the right scroll, duplicate it, grab the real one, and replace it with a fake one and get out. So we decided we might as well relax.

Shin stood in front of the door, and at my signal—a single nod—he turned almost completely transparent.

All at once I could feel my entire strength sapped out of me. I sagged, my body going limp between Hensou and the wall. Shin slowly stepped through the seal, passing on into the secret room.

I wanted to sigh but couldn't find the energy. So instead I curled up into my thoughts and waited for Shin to return.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

A Root member had walked passed us. He didn't even spare us a glance—we held no chakra and we were harmless things—but still it was a nerve wracking moment for me. It seemed almost forever before he left us.

After he left, Shin stepped out of the door, smiling at me.

_. . . It is done, Sakura-hime. Let us leave this place, quickly. . . ._

My strength slowly returned as Shin became more tangible. I gave a nod and nudged Hensou who had—much to my surprise—fallen asleep. He lifted his head, blinking his wide eyes a few times before smiling and standing up.

_!-All done?-!_

_Yep. Let's get out of here before we push our luck any longer._

Hensou nodded and Shin flicked his tail. Together we made our way out that damp place, and I for one was feeling quite satisfied with myself.

Wow I can't believe that actually...

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Wow I _really_ can't believe that actually worked...

Part of me was expecting some sort of epic confrontation, but I had to keep in mind this wasn't a fanfiction or movie. While I'm sure such a thing would be dramatic and whatnot this _was_ reality. I highly doubt that even as paranoid as Root was, they wouldn't be expecting a seemingly harmless civilian girl to just stumble across their hideout and make out with any of their scrolls. The probabillity of that happening was astronomical.

Of course, now that it was over it would only be a matter of time, I realized. I could never use Shin within the range of Konoha unless I was sure it was safe. I had no doubt that in my mind that they would recognize his unique chakra signature anywhere, especially when he left behind such a suspicious seal. No, no, I couldn't ever use Shin within Konoha again and I definitely couldn't let anyone know about Hensou. It wouldn't be too difficult for them to put two and two together. Although why they would begin suspecting _me_ was questionable.

On the surface I really was just a silly girl who belonged to Team 7. They had no way of knowing about my ability because I was pretty sure Jiraiya would keep my request in keeping my ability hidden. I didn't think he liked Root anyway.

Still... if my plans for Itachi and Sasuke somehow worked out I would have to come clean with how I retrieved the documents.

But... But...

Whatever punishment I would receive from it, be it from Tsunade or Root would be worth it if my plan worked.

I was curled up in my bed now. Hensou and Shin now long gone and the scroll kept safe with them. My eyes were locked to my window and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't seem to pull my eyes away from sky that was slowly lit up once again.

I was satisfied. Satisfied that my plan was taking place and satisfied the people I had grown to care for would have a happy ending. I could feel a coil of happiness curl up in the pit of my stomach and for once the pang of regret for all the things I had not done was gone.

I felt my lips curl into a smile.

Dawn was approaching again. I had another day of training and a little less than a year to complete before I met up with Naruto and Jiraiya. I had two and half years to prepare for the Akatsuki and I had, maybe, three years to prepare for the Fourth Shinobi War.

But this time, I was prepared. And this time I was going to give this world the happy ending it deserved.

Just watch me.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Dear Sakura,

When you first asked me, what was my dream—my goal—I didn't have an answer for you. But now, I believe I can truthfully answer you.

I intend to become the Kazekage of Suna. I have thought long and hard about this and I know it will be difficult but I am going to try.

I will protect this village and the people in it with my life and I hope that one day I can be like him.

I hope that as my friend, you will support me in this.

Yours,

Gaara

* * *

_And the first part is... done!_

_Next chapter will be the Shippuden Prologue. _

_And yes, I know. That ending was so anticlimatic. I don't care. I don't particularly feel like adding twenty more chapters to Part I and postponing Shippuden just for an overdone plot twist. And yes, I did a double update because so many of you were anxious for Shippuden and I figured 'Eh, it's just the prologue. Not like it'll hurt.'_

_Reviews are **love**._


	31. Shippuden Prologue

_"Our boms are smarter than the average high school student. At least they can find Kuwait."_

_-Anonymous_

_**Disclaimer: **Naruto is Kishimoto's toy. I'm just playing with it._

_**Warning: **Language._

* * *

Dear Gaara,

Congratulations on becoming Kazekage! I'm so proud of you, I knew you could do it. :)

I hope the paper work isn't too much for you. Tsunade always complained about her paper work.

Naruto and I will be returning to the Konoha soon. I hope we'll get a mission in Suna so we can come and visit you.

Word of warning though, I _will_ glomp you next time I see you.

Oh, and Naruto is ecstatic for you. Seriously, he's very proud of you too.

Happy for you,

Sakura

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"It's almost hard to believe we'll be returning home," I said, sparring a glance over at Naruto. Jiraiya was walking ahead of us, happily flipping through his latest research notes.

"I know, I can't wait to see everything. Think they've changed much?" Naruto wondered.

"Probably not _too_ much," I said with a smile. "But I for one can't wait to find Hina-chan and Ino-chan. Although I loved spending time with you and Shisho—I _need_ girl time."

Naruto laughed. "And I need good ramen."

"Naruto we've had plenty of ramen while training." I rolled my eyes.

"But nothing beats Ichiraku ramen," Naruto happily countered.

I shook my head in mock exasperation. "Only you think that, you're obsessed with that stuff."

"Nothing wrong with a healthy obsession," Naruto defended.

"There's nothing healthy about your obsession," I said dryly.

Naruto only grinned. "Think they'll be impressed with our training?"

"Well I know they'll be impressed with _my_ training."

"Yeah right! I kick way more ass than you, Momma!"

"No you don't!"

"Yes I do!"

"No you don't, you're only saying you do because you're just jealous _I_ was reversed summoned before you."

Naruto cringed. "Do you have to rub it in?"

I chuckled. "Sorry."

Naruto shook his head. I smiled fondly at him, recalling my first trip into Mt. Sanshouuo.

**(FLASH BACK)**

_… ~And this is our hot springs. The water is filled with strong minerals that work perfectly for our skin.~ _Gedo informed me, her tail flickering towards a large pond with a decent sized waterfall and large rocky walls. Steam drifted up from the tinted green waters making it look extremely tempting.

"This place is so… tranquil," I said, glancing around. Tall, green trees loomed around us. Blue floweres flourished all over the rocky walls and green and white flowers bloomed on the ground. The sky above us was such a sharp blue without a single cloud in sight—I couldn't even find the sun yet, but the shadows moved like it was noon.

Salamanders of all sorts lazed about in the shadows of the trees or basked on warm rocks. They all looked completely at eased and paid us no mind.

Gedo smiled and motioned me to follow her. I complied, walking behind her slowly and taking everything in with a look of awe on my face.

That's when I first saw it.

It was tucked away behind some tress. It was a cave of sorts—but not an ordinary cave. Green crystal bars were barred at the entrance and the inside of the cave looked oddly smooth and comfortable.

I asked Gedo about it.

She flicked her tail, eyeing the cave. _~That is our Spirit Prison.~_

"Spirit what?" I asked, dumbfounded.

She chuckled. _~As you were informed two years ago, there are five other salamanders you could have summoned were you a male. One of those salamanders is the Warden—Tengoku.~_

"Okay…" I said slowly. "So what's so special about it?"

_~I cannot give you a very good explanation for it… Here, let us ask Tengoku.~_

I followed Gedo as she slowly made her way towards the cave. At first I didn't see any Salamanders nearby, just a weird rock outside of it, but as I neared I came to realize that the giant rock was in fact a _giant_ Salamander.

A _really _big Salamander. Like Ibuse sized.

I stared up at it and Gedo lightly prodded the salamander with the tip of her tail. _~Tengoku-sama. I have brought Sakura-san—our current Summoner. She wishes to inquire you about the Spirit Prison.~_

The rock slowly moved, a large dark gray tail unfurling around the massive salamander. A giant head swung towards us, calm blind eyes stared down at me.

"Hi… Uh… I'm Sakura. Nice to meet you."

Tengoku's tongue flicked out before he brought it back in. When he spoke his voice was low, deep, but still only a whisper.

_] Hello, Sakura-sama. I am Tengoku, Warden of the spirit prison. What questions may I answer for you? [_

"What exactly _is_ a Spirit Prison?" I asked.

_] There are times when our Summoner may need a cell to hold an enemy. This cell is created by the strongest material known to all summons—Muteki Iwa. Any being the Summoner wishes shall never physically leave the prison without the Summoner's permission. [_

"And how is that possible?" I asked incredulously. "Couldn't they just use some justu and escape?"

_] No. The rock is coated with a special mold that releases a chakra eating poison. It is not lethal and uncurable—it only eats away at a chakra until there is too little left behind. [_

"Smart poison," I muttered. "You said the prisoner cannot _physically_ leave the prison. Is there some other way?"

_] Yes. It is where it receives its name. While in the cell the prisoner's spirit is projected from its body and will follow the Summoner. The Summoner may provide a medium for the spirit so the spirit does not always accompany the Summoner but it is the Summoner's choice. [_

I blinked. "So if I put… say… Naruto in that cell, I would have his uh… 'ghost' following me around in Konoha?"

_] I do not know of this Naruto. I will assume he is a living being and say yes. [_

"Would anyone else see Naruto? And what exactly could he do as a um… ghost?"

_] Only the Summoner is allowed to see and hear the spirits inside the cell. Though there is a ritual that will allow others to see the, as you say, 'ghosts'. The 'ghosts' may only act as far as the Summoner wishes. The most they can perform—with the Summoner's permission—is to become physical for a brief amount of time. However their chakra and their actual body will remain here, at the prison with me. [_

"Is there anything else I might need to know about the prison? Any um… side effects for the prisoners?"

Tengoku was quiet for a moment before he answered.

_] Yes. A prisoner cannot be held for more than six months or they will become one with the cell and die. The summoner who is bound to the prison cannot be bound for more than six months or they will lose all physical attachment to the world, and in turn become imprisoned themselves. [_

I gaped. "Risky as hell but... Holy shit that's a very useful cell. Would it work on anything?"

_] Any living creature. [_

"Can I use it?" I asked eagerly.

_] The proper way to use the cell is to summon myself and I would place the prisoner inside the cell myself. You cannot summon me as our spirits are not close enough. [_

I bit my bottom lip. "You said proper way. Does that mean there's an improper way?"

_] … I suppose you could have Ibuse bring me the prisoners and I could place them in a cell here. You _can _summon Ibuse, can you not? [_

I grinned. "Yeah I can summon him. So that'll work? I just have Ibuse eat the guys, pop up back here and he can hand them off to you?"

_] I do not see why not. [_

I cheered. "Yes! I can save more people!"

_~What?~_

I shook my head, my grin widening at the genius plan I was hatching. "Don't worry about it. Oh damn this is so awesome. I am _so_ glad I signed the Salamander contract. So kick-ass!"

**(End Flash Back)**

"I'm sure you'll get reversed summoned eventually," I told Naruto.

Naruto gave me his trademark grin. "You're right. The frogs can't wait forever. Besides, they love me too much."

I laughed and after a moment Naruto joined in with me.

"Man, Pervy-Sage is so wrapped up in his notes," Naruto said, motioning towards Jiraiya.

I gave a wicked grin. "You're right. He really should pay more attention to his surroundings."

Naruto gave me an amused snort. "What do you have in mind?"

I held a single finger to my lips and winked at him. I then ran forward and jumped, landing on Jiraiya's back. My arms and legs swung out to properly piggyback him.

Jiraiya flailed at the new weight and struggled to keep his balance. He lost it, tumbling forward and losing his grip on his notes. "Damn it Sakura!"

I giggled, rolling off him. I laid on my back and continued to giggle in amusement while Jiraiya shot me a dirty look. Naruto was laughing at us.

Jiraiya brushed himself off, collecting his fallen research and shooting Naruto and me dirty looks. He muttered, "I swear sometimes you two haven't matured a bit."

I stuck out my tongue to prove his point.

Jiraiya sighed and rolled his eyes. "I can't wait to dump you two on Kakashi. The moment we get in Konoha I'm ditching you—both of you."

"Aw come on Pervy-Sage, we both know you wouldn't do that. You love us too much," Naruto laughed, offering me a hand.

"Yeah," I said, taking the hand. "You'd be lost without us."

Jiraiya sniffed. "I assure you, I got along just fine before you two came along, I'll get along just as well when you two leave."

"Bah," Naruto said, pulling me up. "You're just being grumpy."

I snickered and dusted myself off.

Jiraiya sighed. "Come on you two, we're almost back at the village."

"Yes, Shisho," I said meekly. Naruto only grinned.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Dear Sakura,

Thank you. I am very grateful for yours and Naruto's support.

The paperwork seems to be fine for now. But I do not sleep so I have plenty of time to do it.

I'll personally request you two to visit us. It has been too long.

Try not to glomp me too hard.

Yours,

Gaara

* * *

**_I HAVE A SURPRISE FOR YOU AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS AUTHOR'S NOTE_**

_Yes I double updated. So many of you were anxious for Shippuden and I for one hate it when an author draws out the suspension just for the sake of more reviews so I decided to be a bit nicer and post the prologue, at least. You're all welcome._

_Reviews are **love**._

**_And the surprise is..._**

_I've recently started a deviantart account and to get things started I went ahead and did a basic, quick drawing of Sakura (in her new Shippuden attire) and a small comic feature her and Kisame. _

_They aren't much but I was kind of rushing. Anyway... Link on profile or just look me up. User name is Charredblososm16._

_And really. Not much. I seriously just rushed the drawings and won't be doing serious artwork for a little while longer. _

_That's all. :)_


	32. We Kinda Dragged Jiraiya

_"I hate it when strangers say 'I don't bite.' Yes. Because the very first thing I think of when I meet someone new is 'Holy shit this person is going to bite me.'"_

_-Anonymous_

**_Disclaimer: _**_Naruto is Kishimoto's toy. I'm just violating it._

**_Warning: _**_Language. I wonder if I should up the rating _just_ because of the language...?_

* * *

Dear Gaara,

I love my summonings. Really. I do. They're so amazing.

I love being a medic-nin. I loving being helpful and I love easing away the pain of others to the best of my abilities.

I love being able to go offensive. Seriously. It's so nice to be able to kick some major ass on my own and not have to rely on anyone else.

I love my pants. They're so comfy.

I love walking around barefoot. If Shisho would allow me, I would have done it the entire time I was training with him.

I love my team. My son is amazing. My sensei is an evil man but I love him anyway. Duck-Ass is a cool sparring partner (to some extent).

I love my friends. Ino, Hinata, Temari, Shikamaru, Chouji, Neji (somewhat), Lee, Tenten, Naruto, Duck-Ass, Shino, Kiba, Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai, Gai (somewhat, he still scares me), Tsunade, Shizune, Gedo, Doku, Ibuse, Shin, Hensou, and you.

I love thunderstorms.

I love a lot of things.

Feeling lovey,

Sakura

P.S. Next time I come to Suna, mind showing me that salt-sand you've been raving on about for the past week? You're making me crave salty goodness.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"Damn this is nostalgic," I said, bumping shoulders with Naruto. He bumped me back and nodded.

The bustling streets of Konoha. Damn it felt like forever and yet only a second since I was last year. Wonder how it must feel for Naruto. While I was only gone a year and a half, he was gone two years and a half.

"Is that so?" Jiraiya mused behind us.

"Mm," I murmured. "We heading straight to Tsunade's office?"

"That's the plan."

"Narutonii-chan!"

The three of us halted in our tracks, only to find Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi. I raised an eyebrow at the familiar handsign Konohamaru was performing.

"Sexy-no-jutsu!"

A poof and… well, you know.

Jiraiya gave a gleeful shout, his face lighting up like the Fourth of July. Naruto stared at it impassively and I covered my mouth in an attempt to hold in my amusement.

Konohamaru poofed back to normal.

"How was that? Had some real _oomph_ to it, right?" Konohamaru demanded.

Naruto chuckled. "Konohamaru, I'm not a kid anymore. So you shouldn't use techniques like that anymore, either."

Konohamaru appeared crestfallen.

Naruto then gave his trademark grin before he passionately declared, "That jutsu is too weak! Behold my newly developed perverted ninjutsu!"

I erupted into a fit of half covered snickers as Naruto showed his technique to the appraising audience. When he was done I grabbed his shoulder and pulled him away from the awing crowd.

"That was amazing nii-chan!" Konohamaru praised.

"Ehehehe, it was, wasn't it?" Naruto chuckled, quite pleased with himself.

"Enough goofing off, we need to get to Hokage-sama," I told him, dragging him away. "Bye-bye, Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi! Let's go, Shisho, before I have to drag you too."

"Yeah, yeah," Jiraiya said, still off in his own blissful fantasies of perverseness.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"Long time no see, you three," Tsunade greeted us. "I take it the training had positive results?"

"Did you think I'd bring them back without any results?" Jiraiya mocked.

"I, for one did great," Naruto said, giving Tsunade a thumbs-up.

"And I did even greater." I grinned. Naruto shoulder bumped me and I chuckled.

"Bullshit, you did not," Naruto proclaimed.

I bumped him aside, stepping in front of him. "I assure you, Naruto is completely lying. He's just jealous."

"Am not," Naruto said, bumping me back aside with a cheerful grin.

I stuck my tongue out and ruffled his hair.

Tsunade, Shizune and Jiraiya chuckled.

"Well, either way, I think it's time we tested those results," Tsunade said after the laughter died down. "I would you to fight a certain person. I haven't given him any missions the past few days so he could rest up. Your opponent is—"

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

The door slowly opened behind us, interrupting Tsunade and drawing our attention.

"Temari-chan! Shikamaru-san!" I cried happily, running forward and quickly hugging Temari. She appeared caught off guard for a moment but she hugged me back.

"Well if it isn't Sakura," Temari said, amused.

"Sakura?" Shikamaru repeated before he slowly turned to Naruto. "Ah, then you must be Naruto."

I pulled back from Temari. "Man I thought I would have to come to Suna to see you again so soon."

Temari only smiled.

"So you two have come back?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yeah, just finished training," Naruto answered, his hands laced together behind his head.

Shikamaru chuckled. "You don't look like such an idiot anymore Naruto, you've changed. And Sakura… you've certainly matured."

"Mm?" I asked, glancing down at myself.

I wore long black baggy pants. They were incredibly comfortable and very easy to move in. Underneath them were my red ninja sandals and weights.

My hoodie—though I loved it dearly—was long ago destroyed in training and Jiraiya bought me a new outfit. A short red strapless dress that served as my shirt.

I had matching full arm black gloves that hooked around my middle fingers. And also small weights, wrapped around my wrists.

My hair—without Ino's amazing cutting abilities—had grown out again over the year and half, falling down about how long Hinata's hair would have been in Shippuden. I was still debating on if I wanted to nab Ino to get it cut again or not.

"Nah," I said dismissively. "The only difference is that I can't pass off as a boy as easily."

Temari out right laughed at that—I had described that particular mission to Gaara in full and he seemed more than happy to share it with his siblings. Naruto did a wonderful face-palm and Shikamaru just gave me an odd look.

"Ah... so does that mean our opponent is Shikamaru?" Naruto asked.

"Opponent? What are you talking about?" Shikamaru questioned skeptically. "I just came here to pick up documents.

"If it's not Shikamaru then is it… Temari?" Naruto glanced over at said kunoichi.

"Naruto! Neither of those two are your opponents." Tsunade said sharply. She raised her right hand, a single finger pointing out her window. "He's out there."

Naruto and I walked out to the window. Naruto opened it up just as Kakashi spoke.

"You've gotten big, Naruto," He drawled. I grinned and climbed out the window, Naruto following behind me. "And so have you, Sakura."

Kakashi was sitting cross legged, completely at ease on the small roof below the window. He closed his Icha Icha book with a snap before glancing over at us.

"Spiteful-sensei!" I greeted happily, crawling over to sit across from him.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei," Naruto cheered. "You haven't changed at all."

"Ah," I muttered, suddenly remembering something. I rummaged through my back pocket before I pulled out a slim green book. "Kakashi-sensei, I've got a present for you."

"Mmm?" Kakashi murmured, glancing lazily over at it.

He froze. "_What!?_"

His hand inched towards the book, his face lit up in shock with a mixture of guilty desire. "Y-You… Th-Th-This is…"

"Yep. The first new book in the Icha Icha series, our favorite perverted series," I sighed happily. "I've already finished it so I thought I might as well lend it to you. It pays having your Shisho be the author of it, mm?"

Kakashi carefully took the book and ever so slowly he opened the cover to the first page. His eye widened with pure happiness.

"Okay!" Tsunade said from the window. "Enough goofing off, Kakashi."

All ease snapped out of Kakashi and he snapped the book shut, standing up. Naruto tilted his head. "Wait a minute… you're our opponent, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Mmm." Kakashi walked past us, standing directly outside the window to Tsunade's office. Naruto and I shared a glance before we followed after him.

"Just how far can you go with Kakashi as your opponent? I'll decide how to deal with you depending on the results," Tsunade said.

"So then, shall we get started?" Kakashi asked. "At least that's what I'd like to say. You two are probably tired after just getting back. I'll give you a little time to rest up."

"We're not tired," Naruto said confidently, stepping forward.

"I'll meet you at training ground three. Later!" Kakashi disappeared in a poof.

"Tch, off to read that book," Naruto said with a shake of his head.

I chuckled. "Can you blame him? Really was an amazing book. Fantastic job—Shisho."

Jiraiya grinned and nodded his head at my praise. "Naturally, I _am_ the one who wrote it."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"Stupid Kakashi-sensei. Is that stupid book more important to him that our training results?" Naruto grumbled unhappily as we walked through the streets side by side. Shikamaru and Temari walked behind us.

"I don't blame him," I confessed. "But that's fine by me. I for one wanted to have a little lunch." I glanced back at Temari. "Temari-chan, wanna join Naruto and I for some ramen? My treat."

"Ramen? Your treat?" Naruto echoed. "Yahoo! Best mom ever." Naruto threw an arm around my shoulder in a friendly manner. "Oh man you two have to come along. It's Ichiraku ramen, right Mom?"

"Of course, son."

"I wouldn't mind lunch," Temari admitted.

"Tch, troublesome. But I suppose we'd have to eat eventually."

"Yahoo!" Naruto shouted again, pulling away from me and dashing off in the direction of the ramen stand.

I laughed and looked back at Temari and Shikamaru. "I guess we better hurry. He doesn't like to be kept waiting when it comes to such important things like ramen."

Temari's grin matched my own and Shikamaru shook his head in exasperation.

"Besides," I continued cheerily, "soon as we finish eating we have to hurry up and hunt down Kakashi-sensei. I for one can't wait to show him how far we've come."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Naruto paced back in forth in mild irritation at Kakashi's lack of showing up. I merely sat down, leaning back against a tree and idly re-read the first book of the Icha Icha series.

"Gah!" Naruto gave a cry of frustration. "Just how long does Kakashi-sensei plan to keep us waiting?"

"Eternity," I said absently.

There was a poof as Kakashi appeared in the tree branch above us. Naruto stopped in his pacing.

"Sorry, my bad," Kakashi greeted us. "Actually, while on the way here I saw and old woman who needed help—"

"Liar!" Naruto shouted.

"Ah… well. Let's begin," Kakashi said, hopping off the tree branch to stand in front of three very familiar looking stumps.

I sighed longingly at my book before I tucked it away in my pocket. I stood up, brushing off dirt and followed behind Naruto and Kakashi.

"How nostalgic," Naruto murmured, eyeing the stumps softly.

"Now that you mention it," Kakashi said, looking up from his latest book, "this was your first training ground, wasn't it?"

"Team 7," I murmured. "But… enough about the past. How were you going to test us?"

Kakashi's eye crinkled and he rummaged through his pocket before pulling out two silver bells and holding them up. "The rules are the same when we first did this. You can use whatever tricks you like, as long as you get the bells from me. Come at me—"

"Like we're prepared to kill you or we won't get the bells.," Naruto finished.

"Mn. Correct. You won't be able to get them if you don't come after me with the intent of killing me. You have until sunrise tomorrow." Kakashi shut his book with a snap. "So shall we begin?"

"You aren't going to fight while reading the book this time, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto teased. "Or did you already finish reading it?"

"Not yet. I'll have to place that hobby aside for the moment," Kakashi replied, tucking the book away in his back pocket. "Besides, it kind of feels like I'm going to have to be serious, this time."

Kakashi slowly lifted up his headband, revealing his spinning Sharingan.

Naruto took a step forward while I took a step back.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

**(A/N: Did you honestly think I would give away their fighting style so early on? If you can guess what Sakura's fighting style is you get a cookie. D )**

We had snagged the bells a little after the moon had risen and spent the rest of the night flat out sparring. Not like we had anything better to do.

I wasn't allowed to use my usual technique so Naruto and I just tagged team on Kakashi, every now and then kicking his ass. All in all, it was a pretty even match.

Though I'd like to think that if I was able to use my usual style, it would have turned out differently.

But then again, the… set ups I have prepared… weren't made for Kakashi. They were made specifically for a very… dangerous opponent.

However, I wasn't even quite sure I would be facing this opponent, after all I—

"Alright, alright…" Kakashi said after a particularly nasty Rasengan threatened to land on him. "I think that's enough, you two. If we want to be in any form of shape tomorrow, we better stop now."

"Isn't it tomorrow already? So wouldn't you mean later today?" I asked meekly.

Kakashi gave me a slight eye roll. Naruto landed down on the ground next to me, grinning widely. "I guess that makes sense. I keep forgetting you don't have our stamina, Kakashi-sensei."

"Are you implying Sakura's stamina matches your own?" Kakashi asked incredulously, glancing at me then sighing.

I was only slightly winded.

"Naruto and I… had special training. We were tired of waiting on Jiraiya so the two of us—"

"I've seen how the two of you have grown," Tsunade said, walking up on us. Shizune walked right behind her. "Kakashi, do you have anything you'd like to say?"

"Well, they did an excellent job of stealing the bells from me, and their teamwork is nearly flawless."

"Nearly?" Naruto scoffed. I bumped him with my shoulder and motioned for him to be quiet.

"So what are you going to do with us, Hokage-sama?" I asked.

"Uzamaki Naruto! Haruno Sakura! The two of you and Hatake Kakashi will form Team Kakashi from now on," Tsunade said, her voice holding finality in it.

"Eh? What does that mean?" Naruto questioned, though he was still grinning happily.

"The three of us will be teaming up on future missions," Kakashi said, drawing our attention towards him. His eye crinkled close, indicating he was smiling. "That's what it means. Unlike before, we are no longer teacher and students. We'll work together as equal Konoha shinobi."

Naruto and I gave a grin that could only match Chesire's.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Dawn came, and after a brief five hour rest, we were on our way to Tsunade's office. Though Naruto threw a slight fit for Kakashi being late (as usual), otherwise than that nothing else of note happened on our way to the office.

"What? A convoy transport escort?" Naruto demanded incredulously, standing before Tsunade with a very annoyed expression.

"What? You got a problem with it?" Tsunade asked, equally annoyed.

"It's only a C-Rank! I'm gonna have to say _no thank you_ to that mission!"

Tsunade's mild glare lingered over to a very stiff Shizune before swinging back to Naruto. "Naruto, I assigned you a simpler mission because you haven't been in action for a while."

"Bullshit! I don't need you to go easy on me," Naruto growled.

I snorted and pushed Naruto to the side. "Treat your Hokage with a bit more respect, son."

Naruto scoffed but let it slide. Tsunade set down a piece of paper in front of her. "The details of the mission are written here."

"Understood," Kakashi said, strolling forward to receive the paper.

"Jeeze. The old man was a lot more understanding," Naruto muttered under his breath.

"Huh? Did you say something?" Tsunade snarled, her legendary temper already flaring.

Before Naruto or I could respond, the door flew open and a pretty lady rushed inside. "There's an emergency, Hokage-sama!"

"What's the commotion?" Tsunade asked.

"We recently revived an emergency message from Suna."

My entire body froze, eyes widening.

Impossible.

"Emergency mission?" Tsunade asked skeptically.

"Here is the decoded message," The lady said, handing Tsunade a single sheet of paper.

_Impossible._

I had personally delivered a message to Suna to precaution them against Deidara. I had even given them a detailed description of Sasori and Deidara. While my memory wasn't perfect during Gaara's capture (as I couldn't even remember the name of the betrayers, but I did warn them to watch their own), it should have been enough for them to fend off the Akatsuki.

I sent the note anonymously though… did they not take it seriously?

Did they really dismiss such a crucial thing?

_This is reality. People don't take you seriously unless you have proof to back it up._

But I had no proof. It was all I could do.

Maybe though… maybe it was enough. Maybe they were only severely damaged or something.

Maybe Gaara was fine.

_Please let him be fine._

Tsunade glanced over the paper, her body going rigid and her eyes narrowing. "What?"

"What is it?" I found myself asking, though my voice seemed oddly quiet and brittle. As if I was afraid of the answer.

I was.

"The Hidden Village of the Sand's Kazekage has been kidnapped by the Akatsuki," Tsunade said.

My chest clenched and my stomach dropped. My entire body was cold in a way I never knew was possible.

_Gaara…_

Beside me, Naruto stiffened, as did Kakashi.

"We have more information pertaining to the Akatsuki than they do. That's why they requested assistance from us."

"Tsunade-sama! Don't tell me you're planning to send Team Kakashi," Shizune said in disbelief.

"This is an emergency! We don't have time to be picky," Tsunade snapped. "Besides, Kakashi has fought against the Akatsuki before."

"That may be true, but…"

"Team Kakashi, I'm assigning you a new mission," Tsunade said. "You are to go to the Sunagakure, find out more about the situation and send a report back to Konoha. You will also follow any of their orders and back them up!"

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

I stood in my room, detaching all of my weights and setting them on the floor gently. The floor creaked underneath them.

I was shaking. A mixture of fear and anger. My heart was pounding and I was anxious to be on the way.

_I had to save Gaara._

I couldn't take the chance of Chiyo resurrecting him. That was a combination of Sakura, Kakashi and (mostly) Naruto's saying. I can't remember what convinced her to do such a thing and as such I couldn't hope to rely on it repeating.

I had to save Gaara before the Akatsuki killed him.

Three days.

Five to six days technically, as Sasori and Deidara were slowed by the sand storm and Kankuro as well as…

Still.

I would not let them kill Gaara_. I_ _would not allow it._

I bit into my palm before my hands flew into familiar signs. I summed Gedo and Doku.

_~Sakura-sama. How may we be of service?~_

I glanced between the two. "It's as I feared. Gaara has been taken by… _them._ Gedo, I will need two extracts of that… antidote… I discussed with you. Also, prepare the rough antidote for Kankuro. We can readjust it when I examine him properly. Doku… you know what to do."

_~Understood, Sakura-sama.~_

_ -Whatever brat-_

The two disappeared in a poof and I grabbed my bag.

I felt light. Incredibly light without my weights.

I headed down stairs and just as I was about to exit, I heard a large crash. Turning around, I saw that the weight of my weights was too much. They fell through the second floor, the first floor and probably crashed in the basement, leaving a giant crater.

A flash of annoyance overcame me. "Tch."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"Naruto," I said, my voice surprising rough. "Do you have your rope?"

"Got it, Momma," Naruto replied, his voice equally rough.

"What are you two doing with ropes?" Kakashi asked, eyeing them suspiciously.

"Remember when I said Naruto and I had special training?" I asked.

Kakashi gave a slow nod.

"Well. Jiraiya was… slow at times. Incredibly slow. Irritatingly slow. And as such, Naruto and I would have wasted traveling time doing nothing when we could have been training…" I cleared my throat. "As you know, Naruto is exceptionally fast—especially when motivated. And as you also know, I have been training with weights…"

"What's your point?" Kakashi said, his single eye narrowing.

"We both needed to run—fast—to test ourselves… and Jiraiya couldn't really keep up without outworking himself," I said slowly. "So we tied ropes to our waist and tied both ropes to him and kind of um… dragged him along."

Kakashi stared at us. "No."

"Either you take the ropes or we leave you behind," I snapped. "I will _not_ be slowed down when Gaara clearly needs me—_us_. Needs _us_."

Kakashi stared at me for a moment before he looked down to see Naruto had already tied his rope to him. Naruto smiled.

I moved and tied my own rope. "Now just sit back and relax, sensei."

Naruto and I dropped down to all fours and Kakashi gave a slow, weary sigh. Kakashi pulled out his book and kind of sagged.

Taking that as our cue, we took off.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Dear Sakura,

I'm pleased you love so many things.

I'm unsure if I feel the same about so many different things. I will need to reflect upon it.

I would be delighted to show you.

Yours,

Gaara

* * *

_I love you all. I went back and fixed the grammar issues in the last chapter, thank you **featherstofly** and **Searching. For. Enadi**. _

_I love you all._

_Reviews are **love**_**.**

_Thanks for those who visited my Deviantart account. ;) _


	33. Reluctant Itachi

_"Laughing is the best medicine, but if you're laughing for no reason you need medicine."_

_-Anonymous_

**_Disclaimer: _**_Kishimoto's toy is just being thoroughly violated throughout this story. Don't worry, it'll live. Probably._

**_Warning: _**_Language-Do I even need to keep saying this anymore?_

* * *

Dear Gaara,

Did you know I'm schizophrenic?

I mean, I never really thought about it… and my Inner _has_ been incredibly silent for a while…

But I just thought about it now. Really thought about it…

Go figure, right?

Feeling crazy,

Sakura

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

It was a couple hours before dawn the next day when we had reached Suna. Both of us were tired—or at least I was—seeing how we had to carry Temari as well on our way. But it was nothing we hadn't done before. Honestly, between Temari and Kakashi, Jiraiya weighed a lot more.

We would have reached there at early nightfall but the stupid friggin' sand storm decided to be a bitch and slow _us_ down too.

Damn weather. How dare it not play favorites to us.

We reached the gates of Suna, two Suna Jōnin awaited us. "We've been waiting for you! Please, this way!"

We followed right behind them, while they gave us a run down on the situation. They had brought Kankuro back, who was badly poisoned and in critical condition. I had offered immediately to take a look, much to Temari's relief.

When we reached the hospital room, Temari rushed in. "Kankuro!"

Chiyo, her brother and a few doctors stood around a lying Kankuro. Although the moment Chiyo saw Kakashi…

"Curse you!" Chiyo snarled, rushing forward.

My annoyance got the best of me and I lunged forward, grabbing her arm and twisting her around before throwing her away from Kakashi.

"I do not have time for your petty useless revenge," I growled. "That is _not_ the White Fang of Konoha, that's his damn son. You know the White Fang died a long time ago."

Chiyo stumbled away from the throw, her eyes widening as she stared at me. Her brother moved to stand beside her. "She's right, sis. Remember?"

"Oh… ohohoho, my bad."

I scowled, moving to stand beside Kankuro. I shooed the medics away from him. "Move. I need room."

They appeared a bit miff at my bluntness, but moved away when Temari glared at them. I tightened my head band, pushing the bangs behind my ears before I placed my hand over his forehead.

My hand flickered green as I analyzed his body.

Just as I remembered. The toxin was eating away at his tissues… though it was more potent and flexible than I recalled. I would have to make adjustments to the antidote.

I withdrew my hand and forced one of his eyes to open. Dilated.

My hand moved down to his bare chest, flickering green again. Hasn't moved to the heart yet, but it will in a matter of hours. Eats through the tissue, travels through blood system but does not attack the blood cells...

Slow acting poison. Drawls out. Most likely self reproducting. But how? Only herbs that fit the qualifications… _Acontium Napellus_, possibly _White Snake Root_ if mixed in with the right concoction…

Antidote modification would require counter effect that can neutralize the reproducing of the poison. Best form…

I withdrew my hand and bit into my palm, summing Gedo. Doku was… busy… with other preparations.

I placed Gedo on Kankuro. "Add the specialize counteracting herb to the antidote."

_~Are you certain? You know if you add that herb and you were incorrect… it will kill him.~_

"I know," I said grimly. "But I'm pretty damn certain."

_~Understood.~_

"What special herb are you talking about?" Temari asked, glancing at me.

"A specialized concoction of herbs Gedo and I specifically breed for antidote purposes," I answered. "I already have a general idea of this poison—I suppose you could say I've seen it before. But I'm having to make a minor modification for the antidote."

"Are you saying you can cure him?" asked Chiyo skeptically. "Even when I looked at him…"

"You aren't me," I said thinly. "Gedo, is the antidote ready?"

_~Yes, Sakura-sama.~_

At Temari's questioning look, I answered her unspoken question. "Gedo is able to create antidotes within herself, so long as I give strict instructions on which herbs to use and how it must be administered."

"Useful," Temari murmured.

"Indeed. Gedo, please neutralize the poison directly through the blood stream," I said.

Gedo gave a small dip before she bit into Kankuro's chest. He spasmed and Gedo gave another nod to me before she poofed away.

I placed my glowing green hand on his chest, analyzing his condition.

When I withdrew my hand I gave a nod to Temari. "He will stabilize within ten minutes… As much as I would love to question him for answers… We are tired. May we have rooms to stay in until dawn? At dawn, he should be awake and we should be rested enough to continue…"

"I understand," Temari said. "I will personally escort you…" She glanced at me, pursing her lips slightly before she smiled. "Thank you Sakura. My brother…"

I waved my hand. "I understand."

She gave a nod before motioning to Kakashi and Naruto who stood in the back. "This way, please."

While we followed her out, I let out a soft breath.

We were a day ahead of schedule. If we could keep it up, Gaara would be fine.

He had to be.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

At dawn, we surrounded around Kankuro who was sitting up with much effort. "Wha…"

"Kankuro, settle down, you've only just gained consciousness," Temari said, quickly rushing over to his side and placing a steady hand on his shoulder.

"Temari… you're back early," Kankuro mumbled.

"I heard that the village was in danger," Temari said gently.

"Sorry for making you worry."

"Idiot! Don't say stupid things like that," Temari scolded.

"Were all my puppets recovered?" Kankuro asked.

I motioned to the pile of puppets that were brought in at my request. Kankuro stared at the pile of wrecked puppets. "There were two enemies. One of them took Gaara. Track Gaara's scent and you'll find him. And in case they split up, I can give you the other guy's scent…"

Kankuro moved his hand and the puppet on the ground sagged, opening up its hand to reveal a piece of Sasori's clothing.

Kakashi bent down to pick it up gently. "You still put up a fight even when you're down. Nothing less from a Suna shinobi."

"Can you get a clear scent off of it?" I asked Kakashi.

"This will do just fine."

"How soon can we leave?" I asked, looking at Temari. "That is, if we have your permission to pursue."

"Are you certain you want to pursue right away? We won't have our own squad ready until tomorrow…" Baki trailed off.

"We're certain," Naruto cut in.

"Do we have your permission?" I asked again.

Baki gave a slow nod. "You do."

I glanced over at Kakashi who had already summoned the Eight Ninja Dogs. "Are you ready to leave?"

"What, no hello to me?" Pakkun asked.

I gave a small smile. "Hello to you, cute doggy."

"I knew there was a reason why I liked you," Pakkun said.

"Enough conversation, I need you to track down this scent," Kakashi said, kneeling down for the dogs to sniff.

"Understood. We'll get in contact with you as soon as we find out."

Kakashi glanced at us. "Naruto, Sakura, prepare your packs and relax. It will take time for the report. I will retrieve the two of you when we are ready to move on."

"Understood."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Midday on the second day, the three of us were gathered at the front gate. Temari, who was arguing with Baki about going with us, stood in front of us.

"… We have to send _someone _from Suna with them," Temari argued.

"But—"

"I'll go," Chiyo cut Baki off, walking up to the group. "I've been longing to see my cute little grandson for a while now."

"Very well then," Kakashi said while Naruto tied his rope around Kakashi. Kakashi gave a grunt of annoyance but didn't fight it.

"Hold still," I muttered, wrapping my own rope around Chiyo.

"Eh? What's this?" Chiyo asked, eyeing it.

"So you can keep up with Naruto and me," I answered thinly. "Naruto and I travel faster than Kakashi and you, this is so you can keep up. Just relax."

"Are you saying I can't take care of myself?" Chiyo demanded, her eyes narrowing.

"I'm saying Naruto and I are faster," I snapped. "Enough with your petty ego, right now Gaara needs m-us."

Chiyo pursed her lips but didn't respond.

I glanced at Naruto and gave a slight nod. Naruto nodded his head, his face set.

"Let's go."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Naruto and I stopped dead in our tracks, Naruto sniffing the air. "Momma…"

Kakashi landed with a thunk behind us, as did Chiyo.

I gritted my teeth. "Can you tell who it is?"

"Familiar," Naruto said simply, still sniffing the air.

I gave a slow nod, untying myself. "Usual C?"

Naruto glanced at me sharply. "You or me high?"

"I'll go high," I growled. "My mood isn't in the best."

Naruto nodded his head, untying himself from Kakashi.

I clenched my hands into fists, willing to push aside my anger as I knew it would do me no good in the upcoming fight.

But it seemed no matter how much I tried to will myself to calm down, I couldn't. I was angry and frustrated. I was worried _sick_ about Gaara and I was beyond irritated with myself. I wanted to hurry up and rescue him. I wanted to rush right in there and tell those Akatsuki just where I think they should go.

I wanted to save Gaara and I wanted to _hurt_ those who took him from m—us. No. I wanted to kill them.

It was a cold thought. And in my past life I would have regretted thinking such things. But this is my life now, and as a kunoichi, taking lives was just part of the job.

But the sheer desire to _hurt_ them…

All in all, I probably wasn't the best person for this mission. I was too clouded with my emotions that even if my original plan worked, I don't know if I'd have the heart to show mercy.

A thought that scared me a little.

"Ready?" I asked Naruto.

"What are you two up to?" Kakashi asked.

"We have a target up ahead. We're going to eliminate it," I replied calmly, though I was feeling anything but.

"Kakashi, think you can cover us?" Naruto asked. "We'll be focusing in on the target so we won't be able to see if the target brought back up."

"I can do that," Kakashi said, his eye crinkling.

Chiyo remained silent.

"Ready Momma?"

"Ready."

Naruto lurched off the branch, into the familiar clearing.

My hands flew up into familiar signs as I jumped down. A rock clone of me formed and lurched into the clearing. I flew back up into the trees, turning my head to look down into the clearing.

Clone me dove towards… Itachi… swinging her fist towards him. Itachi side stepped while Naruto summoned a small army of shadow clones.

Clone me spun around Itachi, her eyes at his feet. Itachi followed her, his arms moving.

With Itachi's back turned to me I jumped into the clearing. One of the Naruto's noticed me and grabbed my arm. With a sharp pull and spin, he flung me up into the air.

This strategy wouldn't have worked if it weren't for a number of things. **(A/N: Spoilers)**

1.) If Itachi was actually trying to capture us, if he wasn't still loyal to Konoha.

2.) If Itachi wasn't at 30% of his power

3.) If Naruto and I haven't done tag team battles since we trained with Jiraiya

4.) If we didn't have to worry about others interfering.

5.) If he didn't underestimate us.

But all of those factors were in play. So the plan did work.

After Itachi got rid of clone me, I moved my hands into familiar handsigns below me, while Naruto kept Itachi distracted, I continued to fall above Itachi.

"Earth Relase: Earth Sinking Pit," I muttered just as the ground beneath Itachi quickly turned into sticky mud that wasted no time in sucking Itachi in up to the head.

I had five seconds most—four seconds least—before Itachi broke free. Just enough time.

I pushed chakra into my fist, pushing in as much as I dared to as I bombed down towards Itahi. Itachi's head slowly moved up and I closed my eyes quickly. I had to trust in myself that I had positioned myself correctly to land the hit. I couldn't afford to be caught in his genjutsu so soon.

My fist connected to the top of his head and I felt his skull crack beneath me. My eyes flew open as I flipped off of him, shaking my wrist and looking down at my very bloodied knuckles.

It was a quick battle, but as stated before the factors took a major key into it. If Itachi was even semi-serious he would have trapped Naruto into Tsukuyomi the moment he saw him, or used Amaterasu in the general area around us or pulled out Susanoo the moment he was trapped. He didn't take this seriously, he didn't want to fight us at all, in fact, and that decided the battle.

Kakashi and Chiyo landed beside us, looking down at the new face that revealed itself in Itachi's place.

Kakashi stared down at him before glancing at Chiyo. "Do you recognize him?"

Chiyo gave a slow nod. "It's Yuura. A Jōnin from my village."

"What's he doing here?" Naruto asked.

"I'm not sure myself, but he went missing right before Gaara was kidnapped."

"So he's an Akatsuki spy," I uttered.

"I don't want to believe that. He served on the village council for four years."

"We can bring his body back to Suna later," I said after an uneasy silence fell between the four of us. "Right now we need to bring Gaara back."

"Momma's right," Naruto said, moving to grab his rope and tie it back around his waist. I followed suit.

Kakashi sighed. "I feel so old."

I patted him on the head.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Roughly an hour before sunset, we reached the cave.

All of us landed in front of it, staring up at the massive sealed rock. Mixed emotions swelled in me.

Relief we had made it to Gaara (hopefully) before they killed him, mixed with severe annoyance at the seal, and rage at having to do this in the first place. Beside me, Naruto shook with his annoyance. His eyes already taking on a reddish tint to them.

I untied myself from Chiyo as Naruto did the same with Kakashi.

I rummaged through my pocket, pulling out a stamina pill and swallowing it roughly. Not a chakra pill. Just quick flash of energy that would last a few hours.

"Can you break it down?" Naruto asked me.

"Not like this," I said. "It's a five-prong seal."

"We'll need four people to go and find the scattered seals while a fifth person stays here. Then all five of them have to remove the seal," Kakashi muttered. "Problem is we don't have five people. Even if Naruto uses shadow clones…"

"They might have a nasty trap set up that the clones won't be able to handle and it'll come back to bite us in the ass," I finished. "Tch."

I bit down at my palm before I summoned.

Shin appeared when the smoke cleared.

_. . . How may I be of service, Sakura-hime? . . . _

"The seal," I motioned. "It's holding a barrier so I can't break down the front entrance. Is there some other way I could break in?"

Shin flicked his tail before examining the seal with narrowed eyes. His eyes flashed a sharp blue before returning to their normal color, indicating his analysis was complete.

_. . . The seal's energy is not coming from that particular seal. It's resonating from below. You will not be able to dig through this barrier, as that is where it is strongest but perhaps… . . . _

I glanced up at the sharp cliff above us. "Do you really think that will work?"

_. . . The barrier is weakest there but it will take a tremendous amount of strength to break through it. Might I suggest a combination of yours and Naruto-sama's attacks? While that is commencing I could begin weakening the barrier from it's source. . . . _

"Understood. Thank you Shin. Be sure to head back after the barrier is weak enough and inform the others that the fight will be beginning," I said, as Shin scurried away, flicking his tail in acknowledgement. I turned to the others and quickly explained the situation.

We all jumped up onto the top of the cliff, walking a little in before deciding on a spot.

"Alright. Naruto and I will break in," I said. "When we do, we all rush in, grab Gaara and take care of the two Akatsuki members."

"Now hold on Sakura," Kakashi said. "Tsunade-sama sent us back up. We should wait until—"

"Right now they have Gaara in their hands," I interrupted. "Right now Gaara is very likely _dying_ and you want us to _wait?_ I understand back up is coming, but we _do not have time._ Look. It's only two members. Worse comes to worse I'm pretty confident in our escaping abilities, or at least our abilities to hold them off long enough for back up. Underestimating our opponents is bad—but damn it, underestimating ourselves can be just as bad!"

Kakashi gave a small sigh.

"Momma's right," Naruto half growled. "We don't have time to wait for back up."

"I'm on the girl's side on this. I think we're more than capable of taking care of two silly missing-nin," Chiyo laughed.

"Fine," Kakashi said.

I gave a small nod, untying my rope and putting it back in my bag. Naruto repeated the action. I marked the ground with an x with my foot and looked at Naruto. Kakashi and Chiyo slowly took a few steps away from the x.

Naruto grabbed my arm and threw me up in the air. I twisted before pushing chakra into my fist. I hit the x then hopped back up on my feet. Naruto grabbed me again and threw me up in the air.

My fist connected to the x.

Again.

The ground shook under my fist. It cracked but it did not break. Not yet at least. It trembled and yearned to give in to my anger, but the seal was strong.

Each throw, Naruto threw me higher. Each punch, gave another crack in the ground, larger than the previous one.

My stomach was knotted, my heart was hammering. Gaara was inside. Gaara was inside and right below us, slowly dying. I hated how I wasn't with him at this moment. I loathed how he was dying in the first place. I detested not being able to break through.

But mostly I despised the people hurting him.

It seemed so silly that I was a fan girl for some of them, all those years ago. Especially when they were hurting Gaara. And it seemed even more silly how I planned to—

The ground dented underneath me.

Two more blows.

Anxiety tinted with anger rested in me. So close, so _friggin'_ close.

I didn't even bother trying to calm down.

At last, the ground gave away and I dived into the cave.

Everything slowed down to a crawl.

Gaara was below me, entrapped in a mass of blue chakra while his demonic chakra was slowly pouring out of his eyes, his mouth, his nose. A low gurgle moan escaped him, showing how much pain he was already in.

The statue where the bijuu were kept remained inanimate. The members of Akatsuki, all ten of them with eight of them as holograms on each of its finger tips.

But I didn't pay attention to them. My eyes were locked on the pale face of Gaara.

For just a split second, all I saw was red. And for a split second, I allowed my emotions to fully show as I dived straight into that chakra, my arms outstretched.

"_Get your fucking chakra out of him!_"

Absently I wondered if that banshee shrieking was really me—it was, of course. But more importantly…

I dived through the blue chakra, twisting so I grabbed Gaara and pulled him out with me. My body flipped so I cushioned our fall.

Above us, Naruto, Kakashi and Chiyo fell in.

I rolled away from the Akatsuki, pushing myself to my feet and dragging Gaara with me. I set him down beside Chiyo, my hands flying towards his face as they glowed a bright green.

It was quiet.

I let out a shaky breath I didn't realize I had been holding.

He was alive. Unconscious, but alive.

I stood up, facing the Akatsuki with Naruto at my side. I gave a slow nod to Naruto when he looked at me, his eyes questioning. He let out a tense breath and nodded back.

The holograms disappeared, leaving only Sasori and Deidara.

"Well, well, I wasn't expecting for you guys to find us so soon, hmm," Deidara mused.

"You bastard, just what the hell did you do to Gaara?" Naruto snarled.

"Hooo?" Deidara sounded, clearly amused. "My, my. Sasori-no-Danna, this one certainly seems energetic. Why don't you leave him to me? He would probably appreciate the true beauty of my art."

"You have no art, merely just a mockery that you've deluded yourself to thinking is art. True beauty lies in the everlasting existence of it—an eternal beauty," Sasori growled, his voice low and well carried.

"Hmph," Deidara scoffed. "Art is a spur of the moment, a passion and a flickering. It is brief and spontaneous, not dull and forever, hmm."

Sasori's tail snapped out as he tried half heatedly to behead Deidara. Deidara jumped down from his finger, summoning his favorite white hawk and stepping on it.

Naruto shook with anger beside me. "Bastards… ignoring us… Hey! I'm talking to you, what the hell did you do to Gaara?"

"Naruto, calm down," Kakashi said.

Naruto ignored him.

Deidara slowly flew up to the small hole in the wall before he tossed a few white blurs towards it. He was too far away for me to tell exactly what he had been tossing.

The ceiling above us shook as he made a giant, gaping hole. Sunlight poured in the once dark cave.

"If you want to know that, you'll have to come and get me, yeah," Deidara chuckled.

Naruto growled and lurched up into the air, intent on grabbing Deidara. Deidara flew out of his range, slowly drifting off. Naruto grabbed onto the ledge of the hole, pulling himself out of the cave.

"Naruto!" Kakashi said sharply. "Come back here."

Naruto ignored him, too far gone with his anger to really care.

"You better go after him," I said to Kakashi, grabbing his arm. "Don't worry about Chiyo and me."

"No, I—"

"Do you really want to leave Naruto alone with a member of the Akatsuki?" I interrupted. "Chiyo and I will be fine."

Kakashi looked torn. I felt bad for him, really I did. The only other options were for Chiyo to go after Naruto, and she didn't know what to do about Fluffy if he came out. Or for me to go after Naruto and, while I'm sure Kakashi trusts me and all, he wouldn't feel a hundred percent confident with just us two.

So I decided for him.

I gripped his arm then tugged forward, swinging around and pushing chakra. Completely caught off guard, Kakashi was momentarily helpless.

I threw him up and out the hole, right after Naruto.

"Damnit Sakura!" He shouted as he flew.

I smiled.

I looked at Sasori then glanced at Chiyo. "I have a plan."

"Oh?" Chiyo murmured, her voice dropping down to match mine.

"Look, you're a long ranged fighter and I'm pretty good at close range. I need… I need you to stay back here and watch Gaara. Sasori will most likely try to evade fighting in hopes of recapturing Gaara. However, he'll be forced to do it long range. You're the only one here who has a chance of properly protecting Gaara," I said.

Chiyo's eyes narrowed. "Are you trying to get me out of the fight?"

"Kind of," I admitted. "My fighting style is a little… all over the place. I just don't want to have to worry about hitting an ally. But that's not the full reason. Sasori… he uses a wide range of attacks over large areas. He's a poison master and as such just tries to get his opponent hit with one of his poisons then slowly drag out the battle until they die.

"I need you back here," I continued. "Because I was hoping you could help me dodge."

"What do you mean?" Chiyo asked.

I snuck a peak at Sasori, who was eyeing us indifferently. I had a sneaky feeling he was trying to calculate his battle plan for us. Sasori was a very smart member and no doubt was taking into account what he did and did not know of me and Chiyo. Not to mention he would be cautious because he knew Chiyo wouldn't be such an easy opponent.

He also ran the spy network for the Akatsuki, odds are he knew some things about me. Though I've been careful not to show off my usual style. So far only two living people knew it—not including my summons. Jiraiya and Naruto.

"You're a puppeteer," I said. "Make me your puppet."

Chiyo's eyes widened. "That's… brilliant."

I gave a small smile. "When the time comes, it'll be a stalling fest on our part. Don't worry. I won't drag out this battle any longer than necessary."

"Oh," I said after a moment. "Here, this is one of the antidotes I prepared for us from Kankuro. Odds are, this'll be the poison Sasori uses. I also have a standard antidote that postpones the effects of general poisons."

I rummaged through my pockets, procuring two small vials, already capped with a needle, wrapped in special plastic.

Chiyo took the antidotes, storing them away.

"Ready?" I asked her.

Chiyo gave a small nod, stepping down to grab Gaara and leaping back.

I turned my back to them, facing Sasori.

Hopefully Doku and the other one will be ready. I didn't want to drag this battle any longer than necessary.

I took another step forward, looking at Sasori.

My anger was gone. My anxiety, gone. I felt oddly… calm… in this situation. While I was still mildly irritated at this whole situation, it seemed insignificant now.

I could go through with my original plan, and hopefully it would succeed. I had spent too many hours nursing a headache in thoughts of battle plans for different scenarios. It would seem like such a waste if I wasn't able to succeed.

Besides, if I lost here, what hope did I have of making that wonderful happy ending I was trying so hard to achieve?

What hope did I have protecting those precious to me, protecting their happiness, really?

Without meaning to, I snuck a glance at Gaara.

Really, failing here wasn't an option. If I wanted to make my friends happy, I couldn't fail.

So with that mindset, I took one final step towards Sasori.

I looked straight at him.

And I smiled.

**(Brief Flashback – Third POV Akatsuki)**

"It seems we have guests," Zetsu said, breaking the silence inside the cave. His hologram voice came out rougher than intended.

"Which group is it, hmm?" Deidara asked, flicking his eyes towards the Akatsuki spy.

"It couldn't be my group," Kisame said, though no one could see it, the swordsman was grinning. "I only finished delaying them a little while ago. They couldn't be that fast."

"**It's Itachi's group. I knew his delay was too short,**" Zetsu growled.

Pein's eyes drifted over to Itachi. "Itachi, what can you tell us about the group?"

Above them, the cave shook.

"Looks like our guests aren't too keen on waiting," Sasori drawled.

"There are four of them. The Kyūbi jinchūriki, Hatake Kakashi, Lady Chiyo and Haruno Sakura," Itachi answered Pein, his voice boarding between monotone and clipped.

"Sa-ku-ra," Kisame drawled. "Why does that name sound familiar?"

"She was with the jinchūriki during our first attempt," Itachi answered his partner.

"Ah, yes I remember. My little fan girl," Kisame laughed. "And she took you down, is that right, Itachi-san? She's grown into quite the girl then. How fun."

"Her and the jinchūriki appeared to have developed strong skills in teamwork," Itachi said.

"So it would be best if they were separated, yeah?" Deidara asked.

"What else can you tell us, Itachi," though it was a question, Pein stated it more as an order.

"There is little to tell," Itachi said truthfully. "The jinchūriki is a close range fighter and the girl appears to be a mid to close range fighter."

"Appears?" Kakuzu inquired.

"I did not fight her directly and when she did present herself it was too late."

The cave shook again.

"The girl is the one delivering the blows. She is attacking the barrier's weak point. **She seems thoroughly pissed off,**" Zetsu said.

Kisame chuckled.

"What the fuck are we supposed to do?" Hidan asked.

Pein was silent before he answered. "We nearly have the demon itself extracted. While we will not be able to take all of the demon's chakra this round, the demon itself will have to suffice."

"When will we be able to extract attempt another extraction for the Shukaku?"

"We will not be able to retrieve the rest of the chakra until we have already extracted the demons from the rest of the jinchūrikis. When we have the rest of the demons, we will hunt down this jinchūriki again," Pein said, his voice holding no sign of annoyance despite this latest development.

"How fucking annoying," Hidan grumbled.

"Sasori, Deidara," Pein said. "Take care of the intruders when they come. We do not want a repeat of this."

Above them, the ceiling cracked.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Dear Sakura,

I would have never guessed. How interesting.

The Shukaku used to whisper to me, but now its voice has gone quiet too.

I wonder why that is.

Yours,

Gaara

* * *

_I have fanart! *Cheers*_

_**Link** is on profile. _

_Thank you **featherstofly **for pointing out the errors in the last chapter. They have been fixed!_

**_Question: How did Sakura know the antidote for Sasori?_**

_A fair question. As explained and shown previously Sakura has been studying botonamy, poisons and antidotes. It was shown in the manga/anime, if not said aloud which herbs were used (as they can be seen along the work table Sakura was using). Sakura also described what the poison was doing, if only vague and briefly. Using these hints she can make several educated guesses to which poison was used after inquiring with Doku. She created a generalized antidote to serve as a base for all of the possible poisons. She added the counteractant when she realized exactly which poison was being used. The counteractant was used as a sort of finishing of the antidote that Sakura could not have deduced until she had examined the poison more closely. _

_I hope that explained your question. :S If you have any more questions please don't hesitate to ask._

**_Question: Where are Sakura's parents?_**

_This will be answered in later chapters. :3 Around the same time as what happened to the old Sakura as well as Inner... _

_Anyway, yes, I did just leave it with a cliff hanger and no, you won't see Sakura's actual fighting style until the next chapter. **On Friday. Or Wednseday.** Who knows, I might just accidently update **Wednseday as well as Friday.**_

_Who knows... ;)_

_Reviews are **love**._


	34. Boy Toys

_"I'd much rather be a woman than a man. Women can cry without fear, wear cute clothes... and they're the first to be rescued off of sinking ships."_

_-Anonymous_

**_Disclaimer: _**_Still don't own Naruto. Just violently raping it. Damn._

**_Warning: _**_... Um? Language? Violence?_

* * *

Dear Gaara,

Does your hair always look so adorable?

May I play with your hair next time I see you?

Pretty please?

Also… have you ever slept with a teddy bear?

I have. His name was Cuddles. Naruto burnt him alive in a freak training accident though…

R.I.P. Cuddles…

Nosy,

Sakura

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"Hi there!" I said, waving my arm at Sasori and smiling.

Sasori chose not to dignify that with a response.

"I'm Haruno Sakura, I'll be kicking your ass on this fine day," I said cheerfully.

"Such confidence," Sasori observed, his voice from in his Hiruko puppet coming out rough and low. Sasori's eyes swung over to Chiyo. "I had thought you had retired."

"I had a sudden desire to see my grandson's face," Chiyo replied, her voice surprisingly even.

"Well now," I hummed. "I for one don't like all this waiting around. Shall we get started, Sasori-no-Danna?"

"So eager to meet your demise," Sasori uttered. "If you are going to fight me then I suppose, brat, you both will become part of my collection."

Hiruko flexed underneath the Akatsuki robe, forcing the robe to split and shred. Once the majority of the robe was gone, it revealed Hiruko in all its blazing glory. I let out a low whistle. "Nice puppet, Sasori-no-Danna. Chiyo-sama, are you ready?"

"I am indeed, Sakura-san."

"Well then," I said with a small smile. "Let's get started."

My hands flew into a barrage of signs, speed only aiding me from having done this so many times.

"Water Style: Water Dragon!"

I pushed my chakra outside of my hands, forming it and condensing it into water. The water wasted no time in taking shape of the familiar dragon before it charged towards Sasori. With a watered roar it crashed down.

Sasori leapt back and away from it. The water dragon slammed harmlessly into the ground, turning some of it into a muddy mess.

Behind him, the statue disappeared in a poof, quickly obscuring my view of him—and likely his view of me as well.

I bit down into my palm, performing the quick handseals before slamming my palm into the ground.

Beneath me the ground rumbled, but nothing top side happened.

I allowed myself a smug grin.

Now it was only a matter of time.

"Sakura!"

Chiyo's sharp voice brought me back to reality, my eyes widened as I saw a barrage of needles diving straight towards us.

My hands flew into handseals once again.

"Earth Style: Earth Wall!"

I slammed my fist into the ground, forcing my chakra to rupture quickly into the ground and summon up a large solid wall of rock and dirt. The needles pelted against the wall. I glanced behind me, noticing Chiyo had moved with Gaara behind me.

"Can we evade the needles so I can get in close and break his puppet?" I asked Chiyo.

Chiyo's eyes narrowed. "We might, but I would not risk it."

I gave a slow nod, reaching into my kunai pouch and tying an explosive tag to a kunai. I repeated the process.

I now had _two_ kunai ready to explode.

The needles stopped and I leapt out from behind the wall, charging forward.

"How annoying," Sasori growled. "But your wall will not be of assistance in this attack."

Wooden canisters erupted from the sides of Hiruko, as they neared me, one by one they popped open and exploded with poison laced needles.

For a flash, my mind wandered back to the training with Tsunade, her voice ringing in my head.

_If you want to be a medic, you damn straight better learn to dodge. Medics have to stay alive at all costs, or else the whole team will be at risk. So quit your whining and come back here. I finally found the iron baseball bat and the rest of the golf balls._

Ah… painful times.

My body sagged slightly, arms relaxing as I stopped in my charge. The first wave of needles fell down on me and I twisted my body, side stepping and spinning away. I could feel the slight tug of Chiyo's chakra string as she aided me in evading some particularly nasty ones.

What couldn't have been more than a few seconds stretched on to minutes in my mind.

Finally the barrage stopped and I ran forward again, bunching up chakra into both my palms.

Hiruko's tail lashed out at me and I bent backwards, just as it jabbed towards me.

My hands flew up and I grabbed the tail, twisting it roughly.

It wailed beneath me before Hiruko's tail lifted off the ground and me into the air with it.

I pulled out my readied kunai and jabbed it into Hiruko's tail.

The tail twitched and threw me away.

Sasori's eyes slowly traveled up to the kunai inside his tail. He looked back at me.

I smiled.

"Clever, brat," He allowed.

A black cloaked figure lurched out of Hiruko, just as the tag exploded.

"And so the real body is freed," I drawled, straightening up. Sasori had his backed turned to us, his black hood pulled up.

"I don't suppose I could see my cute grandson's face?" Chiyo asked, a little ways behind me. "It's been twenty years since I last saw you."

"Has it really?" mused Sasori, his voice no longer hindered by Hiruko and coming out low and smooth. Slowly, Sasori stood up, and straightened out. "I must say, I am most curious to how you were able to dodge my needles."

"I had a little help," I said. "I make a kick-ass puppet."

Slowly, Sasori turned around, his head and face shadowed by his hood. "Is that so?"

I grinned. "Yep."

Sasori raised his hand slowly to his hood, gripping the black cloak before entirely ripping it off. With the cloak discarded, Sasori now stood in all his kick-ass glory with his Akatsuki cloak and—holy shit.

"Holy shit you're so adorable!" I exclaimed.

Chiyo took a sharp intake of breath at seeing how Sasori's appearance hadn't changed in the last twenty years.

I stared in slight awe at Sasori. It was one thing to watch from episodes, it was a whole other thing to actually _see_ him in real life. He really was adorable. I could see why he has so many fans. What with his big dark eyes, long eyelashes, smooth pale skin and slightly ruffled short red hair…

So adorable…

I let out a longing sigh. "I'm already Kisame's fan girl, I'm afraid I can't be your fan girl too. One Akatsuki member at a time."

"Kisame's…? Oh yes, he mentioned you," Sasori drawled.

"Did he now?" I asked hopefully.

Chiyo was staring at us—mostly at Sasori, but also at me. I think she was a little concerned at how casual we were talking.

"He only mentioned a brat who idolized him," Sasori replied in his smooth voice.

"I'm flattered he thought to mention me at all," I said honestly.

Sasori's indifferent gaze trailed over to Chiyo. "What's wrong, Chiyo-bāsama? Are you so choked up that you can't even speak?" At her stunned silence, he went on, "That's alright. It's our first reunion in twenty years."

"Sasori, you…"

"Want to see what else I've got up my sleeve?" Sasori interrupted.

"I do!" I exclaimed excitedly.

Sasori's eyes flickered back to me as a scroll rolled down his sleeve and into his hand. He held out the scroll and slowly unraveled it.

"Then I should not keep you waiting. That would be far too impolite of me. I must confess this might be a more shocking experience for you, Chiyo-bāsama. He was one of the hardest to kill and add to my collection. But that's what makes him my favorite."

The scroll glowed a dark purple before poofing. Our view of Sasori was momentarily obscured until the smoke cleared away, revealing the Third Kazekage to be Sasori's new weapon against us.

I whistled. "Nice."

Sasori allowed himself a small chuckle, though his face remained impassive.

"How terrible," Chiyo said softly.

"I don't know," I said. "That's pretty impressive."

"Enough talk," Sasori said, his fingers flickering. "I grow impatient of this battle."

The Third flew forward just as Chiyo yanked me back. My hands flew up into familiar seals. "Earth Style: Earth Wall!"

The wall flew up just in time for the Third's poison coated, chakra enhanced blades to slice through it. But it was enough to stop the attack from going all the way through. The wall crumbled back down into a pile of dirt.

"Nice reaction, but let us see how you do with this," Sasori murmured, his fingers twitching.

The Third's left arm swung towards me, stopping short. It opened up, revealing seals coated inside. My eyes widened as the seals glowed. Hundreds of wooden arms erupted from the seals, racing towards me. I felt the tug on the chakra strings, adjusting my body just in time to see the arms slam down on to me.

Or so it would have been, had Chiyo and I not reacted in time.

I scowled as I laid down on the ground, my body twisted into a rather uncomfortable position while the arms were slammed into the ground around me. Close call.

I looked down at my body and scowled further.

I let out an annoyed sigh and allowed myself to count how many minutes had passed.

While this battle in my old life had been drawn out to episodes, it really only had taken place a little less than five minutes.

But that five minutes was nearly up.

I allowed myself to smile.

Slowly, I untangled myself from the arms and Chiyo yanked me back. A pipe jutted out from the mass of arms and a dark purple poison gas flew out of it. The cloud enveloped me in a matter of seconds just as Chiyo called out my name.

I held my breath.

Ropes snapped out of nowhere and wrapped around my legs and torso, I inwardly gave a cry of annoyance. Chiyo tried to pull me back, but the ropes kept me in place.

"What is this?" I heard Chiyo asked.

"Kunai tied to ropes," Sasori answered. "You're supposed to deflect them, not dodge them."

_I'll keep that in mind next time I _**never **_come across them again_. My hands struggled against the ropes as I slowly pushed my arms together. The ropes had cut into my skin and I winced in pain.

No good, I couldn't get my hands close enough to perform jutsus.

What the hell did the other Sakura do when she was in this situation?

Ah, yes, she used an explosive tag to blow away the smoke, but also injured herself in the process.

My hands wiggled towards my pocket, wrapping around the second kunai. But Sakura didn't have a kunai ready to explode. I did.

I gripped the kunai before forcing as much chakra as I could into my hand. On my own I wouldn't have had enough to throw it, but with a little help from chakra…

I threw my kunai in the direction of the mass of arms, following the ropes.

The kunai exploded within seconds, cutting the ropes and setting me free. Chiyo pulled me back from the gas and I immediately sucked in some sweet air.

"Damn," I coughed. "That was a close one."

"Pity," Sasori said.

"I know," I said. "How terrible would it have been if I had actually died. Oh, how the world would have grieved for me."

Sasori gave the barest hint of a smile at my teasing. Though it was more like a smirk than a smile…

"Eto…" I murmured. "You know… it's been five minutes."

"And?" Sasori said.

I smiled. "And… I win."

Sasori's eyes narrowed, but before he could inquire anything more…

"Ibuse! Now!"

Ibuse, in all his kick-ass glory, erupted from the ground, his mouth hanging open as purple poison flowed from it. In a matter of seconds, the entire cave was filled with the poison.

I laughed, loudly, triumph and smugness resounding in my laugh. As I laughed, I rummaged through my pocket and headed over to Chiyo. Chiyo was coughing.

"What is this?" Chiyo asked.

"Poison," I said. "Special kind. Sorry it smells like horse shit but... Here, spray this antidote on your _right _arm."

Chiyo took the vial.

"Okay Ibuse! I think that's enough. Suck it back in, please."

Immediately, the poison was sucked back into Ibuse.

__As you wish, Sakura-hime.__

I glanced over at Sasori who was moving stiffly. "What…?"

"You see, Sasori-no-Danna," I said, walking towards him. "I'm not purely a medic nin. In fact, I'm more of an offensive type. Offensive in what you might ask? Poison."

Sasori's movements slowed even more so, his fingers flickered but the Third was unable to move.

Ah, hell, why not? Why do all the bad guys get to gloat? Why can't I?

"While I work well with Naruto, I usually work best on my own," I continued. "You see, I summon Ibuse at the beginning of a battle. Now I'm sure you're wondering why you never saw him, yes? Did you know you can summon Ibuse underground? Did you know that Ibuse _specializes_ in such summons because of his previous partnership with Hanzō-sama?

"At the beginning of the battle, the moment you were out of sight, I summoned Ibuse," I explained. "Ibuse is a special salamander. He works with Doku. You see, Ibuse takes in the poison Doku creates, and he condenses it and vaporizes it into a gaseous form. It takes a total of five minutes—sometimes seven, depending on the type—for all of this."

I stopped in front of Sasori, he glowered up at me. "I created this poison years ago, with you in mind. It's harmless, really, to most creatures. But to _wood_… well. Let's just say it's a very special poison. The poison is contrived from a very nasty tree mold, perhaps you've heard of it? _Armillaria Anthracnose? _While that mold was designed to destroy wood, with a few antidotes and a couple of other herbs—and with the reluctant assistance of Doku…

"I was able to trap the poison at its first stage," I said with a smile. "Meaning you are now frozen stiff, unable to move while the poison is slowly rotting away at your joints. Nasty thing, isn't it? Oh, it's harmless enough, but I imagine it's quite uncomfortable for you. Even if you are a corpse of your old self, you still had to incorporate the majority of your body into wood or else you wouldn't have been able to function very well and you would have decayed away."

I bent down, pulling out the second vial and dipping my finger in the gel-like substance. I wiped my finger along his jaw and eyes.

Sasori's eyes narrowed. "No wonder you were so confident. Even if you had died, I would have still been captured."

"Something like that," I said, standing back up. "Well, at least you can talk now."

I walked back over to Ibuse, my arms widening as I hugged his nose. "Ibuse, have I ever mentioned how much I love you?"

__I am pleased to have made you happy, Sakura-hime. Shall I take him with me now?__

I shook my head. "Nah, better get permission first. I'll summon you back later."

__But of course…__

Ibuse disappeared in a poof.

"You… you really defeated him," Chiyo said, her eyes slightly wide.

I pulled out the rope in my pack, walking back over to Sasori. "Kind of. In all fairness, I had planned for this for quite some time. It certainly helped that Kankuro oh so graciously allowed me to practice and refine this poison on his own puppets and answer my questions about human puppets..."

I knelt before him, my hands moving forward to grab his right hand. I gripped the Akatsuki ring on it before I placed it on the ground, discarding it.

I bound his hands and feet, then wrapped the rope around his torso. I stepped around him, kneeling down and pressing my back to his back. I wrapped the rope around me, finishing tying it off. I then stood up, Sasori dangling on my back like a… well, like a puppet-backpack.

I walked back over to Chiyo and smiled. "Well! We should probably head off now."

"You are right. We must catch up with the others," Chiyo said, giving a small nod.

I moved to kneel beside Gaara. He looked so peaceful and relaxed in his unconscious state… I carefully patted his cheek. When no response came, I tucked my arms underneath him and picked him up. I was momentarily off balance but quickly regained it.

Damn, compared to my weights, Sasori and Gaara were like… nothing.

"Can you jump out of here?" I asked Chiyo.

Chiyo nodded.

I grinned. "Then let's go!"

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Back outside, I looked around, feeling for Naruto and Kakashi's chakra. "Hmm."

I glanced back at Chiyo. "Chiyo-sama, can you reach into my pack and grab a bright red scroll?"

Chiyo gave me a curious look but did as I asked. She pulled out the small scroll.

"Unroll it and put a little chakra in it, please," I said.

Once again, she did as I asked. The moment the scroll was unrolled enough, blazes of fires—akin to fireworks—shot out of the scroll and up into the sky. They boomed once (quite loudly, enough to make both me and Chiyo wince), showering down in sparks before dissolving into the air.

"What was that?" Chiyo asked.

"My type of flare," I said with a grin. "It's to let Naruto know we're done and to hurry the hell up to us."

"I see," Chiyo said.

Sasori remained silent. Absently I wondered if he was sulking.

Nah, more than likely he was plotting his revenge. Spiteful guy.

"And now… we wait," I said anticlimactically.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

By the time Naruto and Kakashi came back to us, I was plopped down on to the ground. Sasori sat (not that he had a choice of course)back to back with me. Gaara rested in my lap where I held him and absently played with his hair.

Chiyo sat next to us, apparently lost in her own thoughts.

"Yo, Momma!" Naruto greeted, landing beside us.

"Hey son!" I greeted in return.

"Sakura, Chiyo-sama, I see you've defeated the Akatsuki member."

"Yep, he's right behind me," I said. "What happened to blondie?"

"He escaped," Naruto muttered.

"Oh well," I said. "So, you guys ready to head back to Suna?"

"I know I am," Chiyo said with a smile.

Kakashi's eye crinkled. "Might as well."

My fingers brushed against Gaara's forehead, glowing a bright green.

Gaara's face twisted up in a slight grimace, relaxing as he slowly opened his eyes. I smiled down at him, along with Naruto.

"Good morning sleeping beauty," I said happily.

"Saku… ra?" Gaara murmured, staring up at me with a dazed expression.

"Yes dear?"

"Oi, oi, Gaara, final awake?" Naruto exclaimed loudly, grinning down at him.

Gaara shifted his head to look at Naruto. "Naruto…?"

I patted his head. "Welcome back, Gaara-kun."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

The six of us slowly made our way back to Suna, on the way we ran into team Gai though. Lee and Gai were most distressed they were too late to be of assistance and vowed to be of more use to us next time. Over all it was uneventful…

Well, except when Tenten pointed out Sasori who remained mute on my back.

"Sakura-san, who is that?" Tenten asked.

"Oh, him?" I had asked, turning my head. I admit, I was feeling a _little_ vindictive at his utter silence to everything we had done. I just _really_ wanted a reaction out of him.

So I naturally, I said the following…

"He's my new boy toy."

Naruto made a sound that seemed a cross between a cough and gag. Lee made the same sound. Kakashi stared at me with wide eyes before face-palming (he immediately understood what I was doing), Gai gasped at me in horror. Tenten flushed and Neji face-palmed.

Gaara stared at me with a mix of horror and morbid curiosity.

"I'm your _what?_" Sasori hissed.

I chuckled. "Sorry. Had to say it. You were being too quiet."

I winked at Gaara. "Gaara-kun's my actual boy toy."

Gaara sighed and everyone else pretty much kept to the same reactions as before. Well, except for Gaara. He knew I was teasing him.

"Just kidding, just kidding. Mostly at least…"

The rest of the trip was uneventful, and at sunset, we had finally made it back to Suna.

When we arrived… well. You know how it went.

Citizens, shinobi, hell even a few pets, lined up outside Suna's wall awaiting for us. The moment we came into sight, they erupted into a frenzied cheering, rushing out into the desert to greet us. Or well, to greet Gaara.

Temari and Kankuro were one of the first to reach us. Matsuri, Baki and the rest of Suna right behind them.

"Gaara!" Temari exclaimed in relief.

Gaara shifted off from sharing a shoulder with Naruto, before shifting to stand on his own and dipping his head towards his sister.

"Are you alright, Gaara?" Kankuro demanded.

"I am fine, Sakura has treated me well," Gaara said with a slight inclination of his head in my direction. I winked.

"I'm glad you're safe," Baki said.

Gaara gave a small nod. "I am, thanks to everyone."

While Gaara was being surrounded by his adoring fans, I untied Sasori from me and plopped him on the ground. I'm pretty sure he would have scowled at me if he could.

"Gaara-kun," I chided. "You know what I have to do."

Gaara stared at me a moment before motioning for Baki and the others to step away from him. They slowly parted, though everyone was giving us a few curious looks.

"Gaara-sama?" Matsuri questioned softly.

Temari shook her head. "Jeeze Sakura, you just couldn't wait."

"Nope. I told him I'd do it, and damn it I'll do it."

"Momma," Naruto groaned. "Come on, we just got back."

"Shush, son of mine. It must be done."

"I don't get it," Tenten said.

Gaara slowly turned to face me. "Be gentle with me, Sakura."

I smiled. "No promises."

I ran forward, jumping into the air and—

-glomped Gaara like a pro.

The crowd around us exclaimed into shock, while those who actually knew were chuckling with amusement.

"I missed you," I told Gaara. "It's been too long since I was last able to glomp you."

Gaara gave a small smile.

"Ehem," Naruto cleared his throat. "You two can stop hugging now."

In a fit of defiance, I held Gaara closer. Gaara sighed and shook his head at my antics. I released him, stepping back.

"Oh now, _I_ thought it was cute," Chiyo chided.

My cheeks warmed and I looked pointedly away from the Kazekage. "Eto… enough of this stuff. Come on Gaara… your village awaits…"

And I promptly tied Sasori back to me and followed behind the rest of my team as the citizens of Suna parted ways for us and their beloved Kazekage.

Thank Pein/Jashin/Kami/God _that_ was over.

I was starving!

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Later that night, after the rest of my team had gone off to their rooms, I sat in Gaara's office. Technically I was sitting crisscross on his desk, staring down at him. He was relaxing his chair, staring up at me.

Sasori was currently in my room, guarded by Kakashi and Naruto.

"… and that's the story," I finished.

"That is quite a tale," Gaara said. "But what are you going to do with Sasori? I am assuming you have plans of your own for him."

"I do," I admitted. "But I kind of need your permission for them."

"What do you need, Sakura?"

I took a deep breath. "I want you to legally release Sasori in my custody."

"And what makes you think I can do that?" Gaara asked.

"Because technically I fought him on _your_ grounds. And he was originally a Suna shinobi…"

Gaara gave a small nod. "But you want me to release him into _your_ custody, not Konoha's?"

"Correct."

"May I ask why?"

"You may," I said reluctantly. "But I can't promise an answer."

"What are you going to do with him?"

"In truth?"

Gaara gave a nod.

"Reform him," I said. "Hopefully. If worse comes to worse and I deem it hopeless, I'll release him into Konoha custody or Suna, whichever you prefer. But I… I guess I just feel like I have an obligation towards him of sorts. Don't ask me why but… I feel like he deserves so much better."

Gaara gave another nod, although this one was a bit slower. "I trust you Sakura. I know you will at the very least, make sure no one comes to harm by your doing. Very well. I will make the papers."

"Thank you," I said sincerely. I moved over and gave him a quick hug.

Gaara patted my back.

"Now," I said, changing the subject. "I believe there was a food stand you promised to show me…?"

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

At dawn, both Konoha teams were prepared to leave at the Suna gate.

"You're leaving already?" Kankuro asked, he, Temari and Gaara had been the only ones to see us off. Although that was mostly because we had only told them.

"You could stick around for another day or two," Temari offered.

"We'd like to, but we have important things to report to Hokage-sama," I said.

"Besides, seeing Akatsuki make their move against Suna has me worried about Konoha," Kakashi said.

"Understandable," Gaara said.

"Oh… right before we go…" I bit into my palm and summoned Ibuse.

I pulled Sasori—who I was positive now he was sulking—off my back and dropped him down in front of the giant salamander.

"You know what to do."

Ibuse gave a small grin before he opened his mouth… and ate Sasori. He then poofed away.

The majority of the group was now gaping at where Sasori once was.

"What the hell?" Naruto managed after a moment. "He… he ate him!"

"Ibuse was hungry," I said with a shrug. "Don't worry about it, son."

I then hugged Kankuro, before I hugged Temari and glomped Gaara.

"I've already sent you a letter," I told Gaara, still hugging him.

"I'll check my mail box when I return," Gaara said.

"Eheh… Momma, we should get going."

I nodded to Naruto before ruffling Gaara's hair.

Kakashi gave a slow nod. "Right…"

I gave another nod and ruffled Gaara's hair again. "See you later, dearie."

"Be safe, Sakura," Gaara told me. "… You as well, Naruto."

Naruto grinned.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Dear Sakura,

You find my hair cute?

Yes.

Yes. But that was a long time ago.

I am sorry for your Cuddles.

Yours,

Gaara

* * *

_You all wanted an update ASAP, on... well, today. I already had this typed up so I figured I might as well update. Don't know if I'll update on Friday now though. Probably not._

_I can't believe no one suggested a poison mistress... ;)_

_Reviews are **love**._


	35. Meet Soon To Be Castrated and Normal

_"There are two sides to every argument. The wrong side and my side."_

_-Anonymous_

_**Disclaimer: **I give up. I do. I truly do. I just can't own Naruto._

_**Warning: **Sai and mild nudity. And filler-nish. Filler-ish? Filler... whatever, you get the point._

* * *

Dear Gaara,

What's it like having siblings?

I've never had them before I think. But I've always wondered.

Sipping on milk,

Sakura

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

All of us surrounded Kakashi at his hospital bed. After returning to Konoha we wasted no time in dropping off the chakra exhausted Jōnin.

The door to the room swung open and Tsunade strode in, Shizune right at her heels.

"Tsunade-sama," Kakashi greeted, struggling to sit up. I placed a firm hand on his chest, keeping him down.

"I took a look at your medical report earlier, you'll be staying in bed for a least a week," Tsunade said. "Even after you're out, it'll be another week before we can send you out on any missions."

"Sakura warned me of such," Kakashi sighed.

"Looks like it'll be some time before you can master your Sharingan," Tsunade said. She lifted her head and looked over at Gai. "Team Gai, I want you resting today. You may submit your report tomorrow."

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Ah… Hokage-sama," I said, following after Tsunade out of the hospital room. Tsunade glanced back at me, as I shut the door shut. "I have information regarding Orochimaru."

For a while, long before I had even returned to Konoha from training, I had contemplated on giving this information to Tsunade and carrying on with what I knew. If I did not give her the information it would not only save Naruto the heartbreak, but also save us some pointless and pretty much wasted time. But those were the only two benefits I could think of and while saving Naruto's heart is a huge one... I had to consider the advantages.

I _had_ to see Sasuke. I had _no clue_ where _any_ of Orochimaru's bases were, just the general location. They didn't exactly specify anything and if a base was near they didn't even elaborate to how far away it was, or which direction they were going-you couldn't even see the sun's angle to tell! But I had to reach Sasuke if I wanted any chance of saving Deidara. Not to mention by seeing Sasuke and how much he's improved will dramatically increase Naruto's desire to train and learn the Rasenshuriken. A move that he _had_ to know. Sure, I could always push him to train but there was still the Deidara problem.

Not to mention I wasn't even sure what would happen with Sai and Yamato. If I didn't pass on this information and we weren't assigned to the following mission, who knows what other Root member Danzo might stick with us. The only reason he chose Sai was because his abilities best suited the mission. Without that mision he could very well assign us some other socially retarted Root member and that was dangerous. If I didn't know them I had no way of knowing if they would be a liability to my overall plan or worse, if they were incapable of changing alliances. If that was the case then I couldn't use my Salamander summons _ever_ while they were on the team. They might recognize it... or draw their own conclusions to that night, three years ago... Too risky. Way, _way_ too risky. We had to get Sai.

I knew Sai. Sai was safe. Sai was okay. I could work with Sai.

We needed Yamato. Granted, we would probably get him anyway, if not this mission then later for the sake of Naruto's training but... I would rather have him sooner than later.

So I had to trigger this mission. The benefits for it were too great not too.

Even if I disliked one of the disadvantages greatly.

"And?" Tsunade inquired, not pausing in her steps and thus forcing me to keep up with her. But I was used to such, I did train under her for a year after all…

"In ten days—eight days now—a subordinate of Orochimaru was supposed to meet Sasori-no-Danna at… at um… oh. At the bridge of Heaven and Earth in Kusagakure at noon. The subordinate is supposedly one of Sasori's spies…"

"I see. Have you discussed this with Kakashi?"

"No, Hokage-sama."

"Naruto?"

"No, Hokage-sama. I thought it would be best to inform you first."

"How did you receive this information?" Tsunade asked.

"Directly from Sasori-no-Danna, a member of the Akatsuki. He had informed me that it was a reward for defeating him in battle," I lied smoothly. That was technically true… that was how it was originally discovered. It just didn't happen with _me_.

"Can you really believe him?"

"Yes," I said.

"What would you do if it was a trap? He could be using Orochimaru as bait to draw you out and have the Akatsuki planning an ambush."

"If it's a trap, we'll simply have to spring it," I said answered easily, recalling the answer both she and Jiraiya had drilled into me relentlessly.

"Regardless, Kakashi will be out of commission for this. Without Sasuke, your team is short on members. We have no choice but to recruit new members to create a new team."

"Of course."

Shizune looked like she was going to object but I made a cut in. "I shall inform Naruto of the situation. After all… if we go without him, he'll never forgive us. Especially if Sasuke _is _there."

"Got that damn right!" Naruto exclaimed.

The three of us halted in our steps, looking up as we walked away from the hospital. Naruto stood at the small roof, grinning down at us.

I chuckled as he flipped down to meet us. Not even pausing he continued, "Well then, I'm off to find new teammates."

And he was gone.

I smirked and shook my head. Tsunade chuckled.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

I yawned as I entered my home, intent on taking a shower and grabbing some food. After stripping myself down and taking a long shower, I wrapped myself up in my fluffiest robe and wandered into the kitchen…

And found Sasori staring straight at me, directly in front of me, appearing out of nowhere.

I stared at him. "Huh. I was wondering when you'd show up."

His eyes narrowed as he glanced around his surroundings. His fingers flexed and he swung his gaze towards me. Though his face remained impassive, there was a certain steel in his eyes.

"Where am I?"

"My home, though technically you're in the Spirit Prison," I said.

With a voice smooth as honey but with a definite steel underneath it he said, "Elaborate."

"Well," I hummed. "I had Ibuse transport you to the Spirit Prison back at the Salamander's home. Your physical body is currently locked away in it, incapable of movement. Rest assured your body will be provided the appropriate nutrients and you will not die inside the prison.

"However," I continued, "your spirit form will be latched onto me. I guess you could say you became a ghost that only those in contract with the salamanders can see and touch. I don't know how else to put this but… well, you're kind of bound to me with the exception of my home… I had Shin place an anchor seal here so…

"Either you can float around and follow me or you can float around and stay here," I finished. "Um… things can touch you-or atleast you can _feel _them touch you-but nothing can kill you—well except me, but you don't have to worry about that. You can't touch things unless I perform the appropriate handseals… you get the picture."

"I had no idea the Salamanders had such a thing," Sasori commented.

I shrugged. "There aren't a lot of people summoned to the salamanders. Anyway… welcome to my home."

Sasori's eyes narrowed.

I moved, stepping around him to grab some food. "Any other questions?"

"Why am I here in the first place?" Sasori asked. "Shouldn't I be in Konoha's… or Suna's interrogation room?"

"Do you want to be?" I asked dryly. "You're here because I want you here. I have no intentions of handing you over so lightly."

"Why? I _will_ kill you the moment I can," Sasori pointed out calmly.

"So nonchalant," I muttered. "If you _do_ somehow kill me while you're still in the Spirit Prison, you're stuck there until your body rots. Then you'll be pretty much a useless ghost until your body dies."

A total lie and bluff but he had no way of knowing that. If I died somehow while they were still in the Spirit Prison, Ibuse had orders to release them into Jiraiya's custody, unless I inform him otherwise.

"My body will not die," Sasori said.

I gave a sly smile. "You so sure of that?"

Sasori stared at me impassively.

I shook my head. "But enough of this, I promised Naruto I wouldn't be too long… so if you don't have any other questions, _I'd_ like to eat."

Sasori's eyes narrowed once again, but he did not make another sound for the remainder of my stay at home.

Still didn't make a sound when he followed behind me to the meeting spot either.

I think he was sulking.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

I leaned against the cement pillar, glancing around the deserted street. It wasn't long until Naruto gave a joyful shout and landed next to me.

"Momma!" He shouted, landing in front of me. "This is where we're supposed to meet, right?"

"Yep," I said.

Naruto glanced around. "No one else is here yet, though."

"His observational skills are astounding," Sasori commented dryly.

I scowled in his direction before turning back to Naruto—who had noticed—and smiling. "Don't worry about it. We got here a little early, there's still some time to go before we're actually supposed to meet up."

"Well I hope they aren't late like Kakashi-sensei," Naruto muttered.

That was about when Sai walked in from behind us. Naruto, Sasori and I glanced over at him.

Sai gave us his poor fake smile. "Hello."

"Y-You..!" Naruto exclaimed, pointing out his finger. "You're from the roof earlier…!"

Right behind Sai, Yamato walked in, smiling warmly. "I'll be acting as Kakashi-san's replacement for this team—"

He stopped, noticing Naruto's dark glower at Sai. The ROOT member was still smiling. I sighed, leaning next to Sasori. Sasori ignored me.

"Something wrong, son?" I inquired.

"This… person attacked me while I was with Shikamaru's team earlier," Naruto growled.

My eyes narrowed as I glanced over at Sai. "Hooo?"

Naruto pulled out a kunai, twirling it in his hands as he prepared to attack. Sai gripped his katana strapped to his back, still smiling.

"Knock it off, Naruto-kun," Yamato said.

Naruto's gaze swung over to Yamato, losing its hostility and taking a curious light to it. Yamato repeated himself, "I am acting as the team's interim captain while Kakashi-san is in the hospital. Please call me Yamato."

"Yamato-taichou, then?" I murmured. Yamato gave a single nod in affirmation.

"Since you guys are on the same team, it'll cause a lot of problems if you don't get along," Yamato said, stepping forward a bit.

"Same team… As _him_?!" Naruto echoed, staring back in a mix of horror and resentment at Sai.

Sai relaxed his stance, smiling widely. "I'm sorry about before. I wanted to know how strong you were, since we're on the same team."

Naruto relaxed in his stance, smiling easily. "You didn't have to go that far…"

"Thanks to our encounter, I learned you're a useless dickless pantywaist."

I blanched, my eyes widening. I knew Sai had dropped the d-word multiple times but… still… Naruto's eyes flashed with rage and he lunged forward, just as I rushed behind him and grabbed his arms thus holding him back.

"What was that, you asshole?!" Naruto howled.

"Calm down son! He's our new teammate, don't let him bait you," I tried to soothe. I glanced over at Sai. "But you really should watch what you say. That was entirely inappropriate."

"Oh? Really?"

"If you keep it up, people will hate you," I informed him.

"Oh? But I really like ugly bitches like you," Sai said, smiling still.

I froze.

"Is this guy retarded?" Sasori inquired

I blinked. "I may be a bitch but I don't think I'm ugly. Call me ugly again and I will castrate you. Then we'll see who's dickless."

Sai didn't even have the decency to wince.

"You admit to being a bitch though?"

"Sure, why not."

I patted Naruto's head who was still glowering furiously at Sai.

"Momma is _not_ ugly and she's not a bitch either! Don't call her such things," Naruto growled.

"Anyway, we'll be starting our mission soon. And, well, we're not going to have many chances to get to know each other," Yamato sighed. "So, introduce yourselves!"

"Tch, Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto muttered.

I released him and smiled. "Haruno Sakura—adopted mother of Naruto."

"My name is Sai." Sai smiled.

"Okay, that's enough introduction for now. Now I'll explain our mission. Our objective is to head towards the Heaven and Earth Bridge in order to capture the Akatsuki spy working under Orochimaru. This is also a rare chance for us to obtain information on Orochimaru and Uchiha Sasuke."

Beside me, Sasori stiffened, his eyes narrowing. I glanced over at him, pursing my lips and tilting my head back slightly. Sasori, catching my meaning, remained quiet. Though I could clearly hear the question going through his head.

_How did they know?_

"… We'll have a valuable source of information for planning Orochimaru's assassination and Sasuke's retrieval if we capture this spy. Be sure to proceed with caution. Assemble at the main gate in an hour. We'll depart one you've equipped yourselves."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Back at home, while I was packing, Sasori stared at me impassively. Though he did not make a sound, I knew he was waiting for my answer.

"I told them," I said finally.

"How did you know?" Sasori asked. He didn't sound angry or annoyed, his voice remained even. Although there was a slight hint of curiosity in his tone.

"Tell you what. I'll give you two hints. One now and one while we're traveling-if you choose to come along. You'll find out soon enough on your own anyway but I want to test your deductive reasoning skills," I answered. "After all you'll be hanging around me for quite some time. But for now I'll tell you this much—I know things. All sorts of things. Nasty little secrets that most people would kill me for, if only to take it to the grave."

"Interesting."

"Very. Will you be tagging along or do you want to stay here?"

"… I will accompany you. I am curious to see how this meeting will go," Sasori said after a pause.

I smiled. "Fair enough, Sasori-no-Danna.

Turning my back to Sasori, I paused to pick up a small red scroll. Tied to the scroll was an envelope that said 'Read Me First!' on the front.

I was careful to make sure I packed them.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

The four of us stood at the gates of Konoha—five including Sasori. It was oddly quiet, with Naruto glowering at Sai, Sai smiling fakely, Yamato giving an exasperated look, and Sasori and me looking bored.

And finally… we left.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

After walking in silence for a while—with Naruto shooting Sai dark looks and Sai trying his best to ignore it—the tension slowly grew.

I shot Sasori an exasperated look and he didn't bother responding. Though I knew he was probably thinking along the same lines as me.

Yamato tried his best to ignore the silence, marching on ahead at a steady pace and refusing to look back.

"What is it?" Sai finally asked, looking at Naruto.

Naruto didn't respond, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"If you don't stop staring at me like that I'm afraid I will have to hit you," Sai said, his smile appearing on his face.

Naruto twitched before pulling out his a single fist hand and shaking it at Sai. In a loud voice he growled, "Every time you open your mouth, you piss me off!"

"It's nothing personal," Sai said. "I'm just portraying myself as the kind of person who says things like that."

"That's what makes it personal!"

Sai continued walking along, dismissing Naruto. Naruto growled again. "That's it. You're not on this team."

Sai stopped, turning back around to face us. Yamato stopped as well, looking between the two of them.

Naruto's voice dropped back but it still held a steel to it. "You're the biggest asshole I've ever met."

"Oi, oi, that's no way to act in front of the Captain, is it, Naruto?" Yamato questioned, though it came out more of a statement. "Trust and teamwork are the most important attribute of a team."

"I thought it was number of successful missions," I commented brightly, attempting to ease the situation with a half ass joke.

Yamato shot me a knowing look and Sasori merely closed his eyes.

"This is taking too long," Sasori drawled. "Control your team, brat."

I shot him an amused look, taking advantage of how none of my teammates were glancing over at me. I mouthed, _You really think _I_ can control them?_

"Tch," Naruto muttered. "This guy isn't part of Team Kakashi though. The other member of Team Kakashi is Sasuke! This guy was only chosen to fill the gap Sasuke left. I refuse to accept him as a teammate!"

Yamato glared down at Naruto. Sai smiled again before he replied. "That's fine by me."

I gave a loud sigh.

"… Betraying Konoha," Sai continued, "… running off to serve Orochimaru… Don't put me in the same group as that gutless little homo."

With each word, Naruto grew tenser. At the end of Sai's statement, Naruto prepared launch to himself at Sai.

I intercepted him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Don't let him bait you." I looked over at Sai. "Don't be an ass. It's quite clear we need to work on team work, ne, Yamato-taichou?"

Yamato's eyes narrowed.

"Besides," I said offhandedly. "Duck-Ass, is far out of your league, Sai. We wouldn't put you in the same group as him, simply because he's got you out matched. Think carefully before you speak Sai. You're going to jeopardize the mission if you keep pushing a wedge in our teamwork."

As Naruto relaxed slowly, I dropped my arm away. "Both of you, get your heads out of your ass and take this mission seriously. Or I will _beat_ _you down_ until you do."

I then smiled brightly at them.

"My apologies, ugly bitch."

I continued to smile, dropping it at the last minute to have my arm snake out, hand clenched into a fist.

I won't lie when I confess it felt incredibly good to pull a Tsunade on him. Sai flew—not too far as I held back—but far enough to land on his butt with a loud thump.

I could practically feel the shock radiating off of both Naruto and Yamato. Sai blinked up at me, rubbing his cheek. "You surprised me with that fake smile of yours."

"That was just a warning," I said sweetly. "I accept the term bitch, but I confess I am quite vain about my appearance—well, enough to dislike being called ugly."

"… Fair enough. I will not refer to you as such again," Sai allowed.

I grinned. "Excellent."

"Though I must confess, I did not know you could use fake smiles as well," Sai said. "Yours was very well done."

"Thank you." I inclined my head.

"How can you be so laid back about this?" Naruto growled.

"A smile is the best way to deal with a difficult situation," Sai replied, dropping his smile. "Even if it's a fake one. Use them properly, and you can fool anyone. I read that in a book." His smile returned. "Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to work well when I try it."

"You son of a—"

A loud crash sounded as Yamato summoned up a large wooden cell. Naruto immediately stopped in his threat, all of us looked at Yamato.

"So he has a water and earth type nature," Sasori commented. "How rare."

"If you three keep this up, I will lock you in this cell. We don't have much time until we reach the Heaven and Earth Bridge. But we can spare some time to make a small stop along the way. Here's a little proposal for you. I can either lock you in this cell for a day to improve your team work, or we can spend the night at the hot spring resorts. Which do you prefer?"

"The three of you don't know anything about me either, right?" Yamato continued. "I prefer to handle situations with diplomacy. But I'm not averse to controlling people with fear."

"I vote for the cell," I chirped.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

An hour later, I stood in the girls dressing room of the hot spring resort Yamato had taken us to. I was still fully clothed and staring blankly at a certain puppet.

"Really, you can go now," I said, thankful I was alone in the changing room.

"Why?" Sasori inquired, still remaining completely impassive. "I have seen the female body before, as I have prepared my own human puppets on multiple occasions. I highly doubt _yours_ would be anything special."

"You're right," I allowed. "But that's not the point. I feel uncomfortable having a grown man watch me undress. Please, at the very least, turn around."

"Why?"

I gave an exasperated sigh, choosing to plop down on an available bench. "You're just being spiteful."

His head inclined. "I admit I am not above such things."

I sighed again. "Either turn around and walk out, or I'll force you back into the prison where you will stay asleep for the remainder of the day."

"I cannot fall asleep; I am a puppet."

"Wanna bet?"

And then it was a classic stare down—a stare down where I might have lost the battle, but I definitely won the war. Sasori's eyes narrowed and then he pointedly turned around.

Taking my chance, I undressed and wrapped myself around the fluffy towel provided.

"There, was that so hard?" I asked.

He turned back around, choosing not to respond to the question. Instead he inquired, "Will I be forced to stay here as well while you enter the hot springs?"

"I don't care what you do," I said. "Maybe if you were Hidan, or Deidara, then yes. But you're mature enough to handle it and I know you aren't interested in such things. Besides, you _have_ seen plenty of um… bodies. And… well, I guess I really don't give a flying hoot. I'm covered, and you don't care about anyone else so just do whatever floats your boat."

I then promptly walked out, Sasori floating behind me with lazy grace.

I was satisfied to see all the other females in the hot spring were wrapped in towels. Entering the hot springs I let out a blissful sigh, swimming over to a deserted area where I could relax in peace. Much to my surprise, there weren't that many other girls in the hot springs. And most of them—nearly all—were gathered together in a cluster by the rocks.

"You have a… _different..._ team," Sasori commented.

"Naruto can be a little… brash, at times. Kakashi is a spiteful perv, Duck-Ass—that's Sasuke by the way, is an ego nut… Yamato is actually kind of normal, Sai is… well he's socially retarded," I hummed. "So that poison you used on Kankuro… it was a very complex design. Very well done."

Sasori's head inclined at the compliment. "How did you find an antidote?"

"Oh," I blinked. "Your poison uses the cells provided in the blood stream to sustain itself. It then eats away at the tissues in the body at a steady rate. In truth, it was just a matter of finding a way for the blood cells to be able to fend themselves off."

"And how did you manage that?" Sasori asked.

"There are some herbs," I explained. "That act as kick ass white blood cells. Each herb goes about this differently. Some break down the bacteria, others cause chemical reactions from their nectar to… for lack of a better word… _purge_ away the harmful side. So by combining these herbs together they were able to locate the harmful substance and degenerate it. But the tricky part was finding the _right_ combination. The majority of the time, the herbs harmed each other and the antidote was a bust. It took me a while, but I had to find a stabilizing ingredient… but there just didn't seem to be an existing one so Gedo and I bred a couple… Took _months_ for one of them to actually grow and not be sterile…"

I shook my head. "In truth, I just used an old antidote I created a while ago for most poisons and threw in a counter…"

"You seem very well versed in poisons," Sasori observed. "Then again, looks can be deceiving…"

I rolled my eyes.

"… Stop friggin' talking about it!" shouted a familiar voice from the boy's side. "Stop friggin' talking about dicks!"

A little ways from me, the girls giggled.

I sighed and sunk slowly into the water. "I don't know him."

"Of course."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Later that night, after spending the rest of the afternoon lazily reading (Sasori read too, though I had to turn the pages for him), evening came and with it, along came dinner.

I stared longingly at the crab in front of me. Naruto sat to my right, Yamato in front of me and Sai in front of Naruto.

"Can we eat all of this?" Naruto asked with a tinge of longing in his voice.

"That's what it's there for," Yamato replied.

I wasted no time in claiming all the available crab legs nearest to me. Naruto didn't even bother trying to grab some for himself. He's known me long enough to know I mean business when it comes to my favorite foods.

"If we eat like this on every mission, Yamato-taichou is welcome to stay on this team for a long time," Naruto said happily.

"I concur," I murmured, carefully picking at my crab and eying it. Here comes hint number two...

"Momma, what are you looking for?" Naruto asked, noticing how I was acting a little suspicious towards the food.

"Oh… I guess I'm paranoid," I answered, almost finished searching through the crab.

"Why is that?" Yamato asked smoothly.

My gaze lifted up towards him. "It's more or less just irrational paranoia, I'm sure. After fighting against a poison master, such as Sasori of the Red Sand… well, I can't help but check for poison. Please, all of you, continue eating."

Yamato didn't respond, and I had thoroughly checked through all my crab.

Naruto shrugged and continued to scarf down food. Sai turned back to eating his own food.

Satisfied my own food was clear, I happily ate.

Once all of the food was gone, Naruto laid back and sighed. Yamato smiled and spoke. "Well, now that we're finished, I'd like to have a meeting about our mission. The reason we're staying the night here is to improve our teamwork. So let's save that for tomorrow."

"Good thinking, Yamato-taichou!" Naruto exclaimed.

"But in exchange, we'll be doing some serious training tomorrow."

"Deal!"

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Later that night, in my single room, I laid on the bed, staring up at the celing.

"You were looking for something."

I glanced over at Sasori. He sat on the floor beside my bed mat.

"Yes." I didn't bother lying. "That was hint number two."

"What was it?"

"You're asking the wrong question," I murmured. "But you'll find _that_ answer later."

Sasori's eyes narrowed. "Wrong question?" His eyes closed briefly as he thought over it carefully. When he was done, he opened his eyes. "_How_ did you know it was there?"

I smiled, pleased with his question. "The same way I knew about our little spy. Let's see if you can figure it out before I have to tell you." I paused. "You know though… I'm glad you came along."

"Why is that?"

I chuckled. "I'm curious about your reaction when you… well. I'm curious about your reaction when we meet the spy."

Sasori's eyes narrowed into a questioning gaze.

I shook my head. "You'll see."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

The next morning we set off on the mission once again, though Sai and Naruto were a little late as they had apparently had a run in earlier…

After a while of walking, Yamato had us go off road into a very dense—and very creepy and dark—part of the forest. It appeared completely untouched by man for quite some time.

"Why the hell are we going this way?" Naruto grumbled after narrowly avoiding a spiky branch.

"Tsunade-sama has already told you. Regarding the information gained from the Akatsuki member… it is possible this may be a trap," Yamato said.

I made an inaudible snort.

"It doesn't hurt to be careful, so we're going to avoid most of the main roads," Yamato said, continuing onward through the forest.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Half a day later of mindless walking, Yamato finally had us stop in a clearing, declaring we would sleep there for the time being. Ignoring Naruto's objection to the location, Yamato used his wood style to summon up an empty wooden house.

We entered it, heading up the stairs and checking it out. Finally we settled on a room, dumping our stuff along the walls. Yamato lit a candle and placed it in the center of the room, asking all of us to gather around.

"…Especially you, Sakura. We need to discuss Sasori," Yamato had said.

I moved to sit in front of him, Naruto on one side and Sai on the other. Sasori floated above me, sitting in the air, his interest piqued at the mention of his name.

"I actually wanted to ask about him sooner, but I promised we wouldn't talk about work yesterday. Today you're going to tell me everything. You're the only one who's actually seen him in person after all."

I snorted. Yamato continued on, "I have a file about him from Suna, but I need you to tell me his personality, speech patter, gestures and mannerism, in as much detail as you can."

I nodded. "You want to impersonate Sasori to get close to the spy."

"Right. Any information you can will be useful."

"Very well. Where to begin… Sasori is impatient. He _hates_ to keep people waiting and he hates to be kept waiting. He repeatedly notes it, in fact. He's quite proud of his puppets—referring to them as the perfect art. Though I must admit, art _is_ eternal… Anyway… Sasori is rather indifferent in actuality, but while he hides inside of Hiruko he can come off a bit dry…" I then began to launch into a lengthy explanation for what I knew about Sasori. It wasn't much, as I wasn't a diehard fan of his before so I never bothered to learn much about him.

When I finished, Naruto was gaping at me and Yamato gave a nod. "Right then, onto the main point of the mission: Capturing the spy alive. If he's accidently killed we'll have lost valuable information regarding Orochimaru. We need to proceed with caution and this also increases the difficulty of the mission. Because this must be treated with delicacy, I will be the one who makes the first move. You will back me up."

Yamato glanced at all of us. "The strategy is simple. First scenario: I successfully restrain the target. Second scenario: if I fail at restraining the target and we fall into battle, you three get into battle formation. I will signal when to do this. And should the second scenario come into play, I want you to take action using the buddy system."

"Buddy system? Like what me and Momma do?" Naruto asked, glancing over at me. I nodded.

"So I will decide your groups," Yamato said. "Sakura and I will make one team, Naruto and Sai will make the other."

I frowned. "But wouldn't it be best if Naruto and I worked together? We have trained for tag team specifically for each other…"

Yamato glanced at me. "Sakura. You are the only medical ninja on this team. We can't afford to let you get injured, so you're staying with me."

I bristled. "I _am_ offensive, you know. I _can_ take care of myself."

"I'm not saying you can't. But we're heading into a dangerous situation and risks are something we can't take."

I sighed.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Dear Sakura,

Siblings are complicated, I think.

At times Kankuro and Temari are nice and friendly, and other times they can be—as the Nara say—'troublesome'.

But I am glad to have them. Despite being afraid of me, they stood by my side in that time. They took care of me, even though I would have killed them regardless. I am grateful for to them in ways I would have never imagined.

I believe I enjoy having siblings. I am sorry you have missed out on such an experience.

Yours,

Gaara

* * *

_Ah-ha... sorry for the late update. :( I was too sick to be at my computer _at all_ yesterday sooo..._

_This chapter is such a filler chapter._

_Anyway! I saw a couple of other stories doing this for their fanfiction and it looked like a lot of fun, plus it gave me a great way to get to know my wonderful, wonderful, reviewers more, and decided to give it a shot._

_They're called Questions of the Day, or Question of the Chapter or... w/e_

_I'll be original and call them The Question(s)._

**_The Question:_**_ If you were to fall into the Narutoverse and land in any of the characters, like this Oc has, who would you choose and why?_

_So. Reviews are **love**_**.**

_See you Tuesday (hopefully)!_


	36. Not Another One!

_This chapter is so long._

_Only because there's a special surprise at the bottom. :I_

_"When I said 'death' before 'dishonor', I meant alphabetically."_

_-Anonymous_

**_Disclaimer: _**_Naruto is Kishomoto's toy. I'm just playing with it._

**_Warning: _**_Violence and language and smiling Sasuke._

* * *

Dear Gaara,

We have a new team member on our team. His name is Sai.

He's emotionally stunted, socially retarded and constantly insults both Naruto and I—all the while keeping up a fake smile.

Kakashi and I have a bet to see how long it'll take before Naruto punches some sense into him.

Kakashi bet a month.

I bet a couple of weeks.

You want in?

So gonna win the bet,

Sakura

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

At noon two days later, we all gathered at the bridge. Naruto, Sai and I were crouching in the shadows of the forest at one end of the bridge. Sasori had drifted off in the center of the bridge.

On one end of the bridge was the spy, who slowly walked towards the middle.

At the other end, I could see Yamato—disguised as Hiruko—approaching.

I let out a soft sigh, preparing myself.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

**(Third Person POV – Sasori)**

Sasori drifted to the center, staring impassively at the spy.

Sasori was a little miffed, to say the least.

The fact that he had been outsmarted by a brat and forced prisoner, did not bode well with him. He had believed himself to be a clever man—he had to be in the business he ran. But to be outsmarted by a mere _child…_

And worse, his original plans of escaping were dashed by this prison that now held his physical body. Even if he killed her, it would only cause more harm than good. A nuisance, really.

Perhaps if Sasori had even heard of this prison, things would have been different. There was always a way to escape cells—it was simply a matter of finding the key. But how could Sasori hope to find a key, when he did not even understand the lock?

It was a vexation, truly.

But it would only require time and patience before he _did_ understand his lock and he found the key. While normally Sasori was not a patient man, he could be patient when needed. And this situation certainly required patience.

For the moment Sasori was free, he had the intentions of ridding himself and the world of this girl. His normally apathetic heart decided to make an exception for this situation. A strange thing indeed, when Sasori once again felt irritation.

Perhaps though, it was only because he was not physically attached to his body anymore that he could feel such things again? It was an interesting thought that would require further investigation.

However… Sasori allowed himself to be thankful that he was bound to this_..._ _girl_ and not rotting away in a prison. How dreadfully boring that would have been. At least while following her, she proved to be entertaining.

And at least she did not grate on his nerves like his previous partner. No, she was not audacious and seemed inclined to think ahead. Something of which he was slightly pleased about. Had she been as bad as Deidara—or worse, _Tobi_—Sasori wasn't quite sure what he would do.

Over all, it could have been worse, but not much.

Then there was the way she knew things…

Things that she should not know. Sasori was quite sure he had not informed anyone of this meeting, and he was also sure that his spy would not reveal the meeting so freely either. It was a curious thought, indeed. It left Sasori unanswered and most puzzled.

Sasori did not care for feeling puzzled. He'd much prefer to solve the mystery and be done with it. But Sakura seemed intent on letting Sasori wallow in his thoughts, only giving him more questions than answers…

How bothersome.

Sasori was pulled from his thoughts as he noticed the approaching spy and the approaching mimic of him.

It was a little odd to see himself walking towards him.

Finally, Hiruko had reached the spy, stopping before him.

"It's good to see you again, Sasori-sama," came the soft voice of the spy. The spy slowly turned around, revealing his face towards Sasori's imitation.

Kabuto, was the name of the spy if Sasori could recall. Which, naturally, he could.

"It's been five years, hasn't it?" Kabuto asked, his voice coming out slightly muffled from the harsh winds of the bridge.

"Were you followed?" the imitation asked.

"No, we're fine."

"How are you holding up?"

Sasori's eyes narrowed. A pointless question. Something in which he would have never bothered to ask. What difference did it make what the spy _felt_? Kabuto was merely a tool, used as his subordinate. What did it matter if he was ecstatic or depressed?

"I still feel a bit shaken from when your technique was released and remembering who I really am," Kabuto answered, seemingly unthrown by the question.

Sasori's eyes narrowed further. He shouldn't be feeling anything. The moment the technique was released, he would have lost all emotions and become little more than a fleshy puppet.

Kabuto shook his head. "My mind is a bit clouded, as well."

Preposterous. The mind seal placed inside the tool eliminated all doubt, all emotions, all hindrances into serving Sasori the moment it was released.

This was wrong, and Sasori did not like it at all.

"I've got a few questions for you," the imitation began. Once again, Sasori had to restrain himself from shaking his head. He would never bother with introductory at such a meeting. This… _fake_… was being far too polite. He did not understand Sasori at all.

"We don't have much time, please keep it brief."

A flash of annoyance raced through Sasori. How _dare_ the subordinate speak to him in such a manner! Even if it was to an imitation to him…

"I'm risking my life just by being here," Kabuto went on. Once again, Sasori found himself questioning the situation. Not to mention he felt another flash of irritation.

Had Sasori been able to do something at that moment, he would have killed Kabuto then and there.

Damn shame he couldn't.

"Tell me what you know about his hideouts, and Uchiha Sasuke."

Sasori shook his head in disgust. Why would he care about Uchiha? While having the Sharingan implanted in a puppet would be most useful, he had no intentions of going out of his way to hunt down a mere boy. It was hardly worth his effort. Furthermore, he already _knew_ where Orochimaru's bases were.

Did they honestly suspect that Kabuto was his _only_ spy inside Orochimaru? Granted, he was the closest spy to the former partner, but did they really believe Sasori so inane that he wouldn't come to the conclusion that he needed more spies?

_Imbeciles_.

Nevertheless, Kabuto answered the imitation, despite the wrongness of it all. "There are several hideouts. He switches from one location to the next each week to keep his whereabouts hidden. Of course, he has them in many countries, not just the his village land. Orochimaru's spies sneak in, set them up and manage them in his absence. But he makes use of many different methods to switch locations, so tracking him isn't easy."

"Where is he now?"

"Currently, he's concealed himself on an island in a northern lake and will move in three days."

Sasori's gaze snapped towards Kabuto.

That was incorrect information. Sasori knew Orochimaru's patterns for switching hideouts. At this point he would be residing in his hideout in Kusagakure, a couple days from this very bridge. He would switch in _five_ days to his southern hideout, six days from this bridge.

This spy was lying to him, on purpose.

Clouded mind… emotions… disrespect… and now lying.

Briefly, Sasori's mind wandered back to what that girl had said.

_… I'm glad you came along… I'm curious about your reaction when you… well. I'm curious about your reaction when we meet the spy…_

Had Sasori not been staring right at it, he would have said impossible.

His mind seal had been broken and ineffective against Kabuto. No wonder the brat was so anxious for Sasori's reaction… he had failed.

Not only that, this spy was a _traitor._

For a moment, Sasori was overcome with the strong desire to murder the traitor. He was overcome with frustration and resentment to how he couldn't. But it was only for a moment because Sasori did not allow such folly things to guide him.

Soon, he was relatively apathetic again with mild irritation, mixed with curiosity.

How had the girl known?

He was quite certain she had never had any interactions with Orochimaru before—aside from a possibility from a Chūnin Exam in Konoha, years ago. But that was only a rumor, something Sasori never bothered to confirm. There was no way she could have known all of this before Sasori.

And yet she had.

Curious, indeed.

Sasori's eyes flickered back towards the girl. She had hidden herself well, but Sasori knew where she was. He could feel her pulling him in softly, the same sensation he had felt the moment he realized he truly was bound to her for the time being.

It was irritating for the most part, but useful at times like this. His eyes flickered to hers and they locked. Green meeting brown.

Her eyes dance with amusement, and his reflected nothing.

She was _amused. _At his annoyance, no less.

The brat.

"… Uchiha Sasuke is there as well," the useless spy finished, pulling Sasori's attention back towards him. "By the way…"

The traitor was interrupted from his statement, his gaze swinging over to a bush on the other side of the bridge. A brown rabbit hobbled out.

Sasori almost snorted.

"Oh? Just a rabbit?" The ex-subordinate murmured.

The expendable _boy_ turned back towards the imitation. "Anyway… about the matter you ordered me to look into—" Sasori resisted sighing aloud. He ordered no such thing. It was clear the unpurposed miscreant was merely trying to test the imitation.

"The body that Orochimaru transferred out of had protective wards surrounding it, so I was unable to obtain the cell samples you requested."

Cell samples? What good would _cell samples_ be of use to him? Sasori already knew the basics of Orochimaru's technique, and he was not interested in such fleshy and unstable jutsus. It did nothing to prolong his life and it showed no artistic value. Besides, he still had plenty of Orochimaru still stuck to some of his puppets swords.

"I see."

"If you would please, hurry up and give me the item," the _apostate_ said. "I can't afford to stay here any longer." He then had the gall to hold out his hand in expectation. "I'll be killed if he finds out I'm here with you."

"Fine."

The imitation then prepared to rush forward, pulling out a kunai in the process… only to stop right where he was.

Orochimaru appeared right behind the ignorant boy. A thick snake wrapped around the Sannin's waist, hissing at the imitator.

"Interesting conversation, mind if I join you?" Orochimaru smiled.

The incompetent boy jumped away from Orochimaru, landing in front of the imitator, taking up a guarding stance as if he actually intended to defend the imitator.

"Sasori-sama, if you hadn't drawn your kunai, I wouldn't have been able to dodge in time!" Abortive trash declared. As if Sasori would have wasted his time in saving its life.

"That outfit… it reminds me of the old days, Sasori," Orochimaru commented.

"You followed Kabuto?" the imitator inquired.

"Don't be rude, I just thought I'd come and thank you. This child you sent me was truly a blessing. When I developed new techniques, I used to go through over a hundred test subjects for each one I created. But thanks to this boy's medical abilities, I was able to use the same subject over and over again."

"So glad to be of assistance," Sasori replied dryly, despite knowing his words fell in deaf ears.

"I had been running low on them recently, you see."

The unusable juvenile's right hand flickered blue with chakra. He held it up, his face set into determination—and then had the nerve to attack his imitator.

Even though it wasn't actually Sasori, it was the principle of the matter.

A subordinate—ex or otherwise—should _never_ attack his master. Sasori didn't bother trying to reign in his moment of sheer annoyance at the situation.

The imitator's disguise crumbled away and the man inside leapt back and away.

And that was when things got a little more interesting.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

**(First POV – Sakura)**

After Yamato successfully replaced himself with a log—and thus evaded Orochimaru and Kabuto, he landed back down on the bridge, clutching his right arm.

I couldn't hear what they were saying—the wind was too loud—but I could tell who was talking. After Orochimaru made a brief comment about something, Kabuto spoke. It then bounced back to Orochimaru.

While they talked, Sasori watched it all with growing irritation.

I tried not to smile.

Kabuto and Orochimaru continued to converse with Yamato on the bridge. After Orochimaru finished speaking, Yamato gave us the signal.

Immidiately the three of us lurched from our hiding spot, landing to stand on the bridge. I moved quickly to kneel beside him, my arm flickering green as I gripped his arm. Naruto and Sai stayed in the front.

"You two again?" Kabuto asked, clearly amused.

"Shut up, Lapdog," I called out, my tone sounding bored as I finished continued to heal Yamato.

"Ah, such big talk."

"You must feel so proud of yourself. Defeating a twelve year old little girl. Oooo, tough guy."

Kabuto's eyes narrowed.

"Hmm? I suppose we could stay around to have a little fun," Orochimaru said with a—there's really no other way to say this—creepy smile. "We'll see whether you've gotten stronger than Sasuke-kun."

I finished healing Yamato. In front of us, Naruto was shaking with anger—though I couldn't see his face, I had a feeling it was already taking on Fluffy's characteristics.

"Give Sasuke… back!" Naruto snarled, red chakra already bubbling around him.

My mind momentarily flashed back to the first time I had seen the fox cloak on Naruto in real life.

He had nearly killed me.

Unconsciously, my hands snaked back to the scar I held around my hip by being narrowly saved from my own sons by my Shisho.

"We can't simply 'give him back', Naruto-kun," Kabuto said, jutting me from my thoughts. "Don't you get it yet? Sasuke-kun came to us of his own free will. You've gotten too attached to him be a man and stop dwelling on the past."

"Lapdog you have no right to tell my son to be a man when you can't even be one yourself," I interjected.

Sasori's head inclined slightly in my direction. I had funny feeling he approved of the insult.

Orochimaru sneered. "If you're so intent on finding out where Sasuke-kun is, you'll have to force it out of me. If you can, that is."

Not even a full second, and Naruto was gone. In his place was a splintered hole that was still falling apart. Naruto's clawed hand slammed against Orochimaru's face, sending the Sannin flying away.

He was out of sight the moment he hit into the forest—but the sound still carried. He crashed through nearly a quarter of a mile's worth of trees before stopping. Possibly more.

The bridge shifted unsteadidly beneath us, creaking loudly. Naruto slowly turned his head to look back at Kabuto.

"Naruto-kun, your power as a Jinchūriki has grown a lot," Kabuto stated calmly.

Tense filled seconds passed as Orochimaru slowly walked back towards the bridge, his head bowed. Naruto swung his gaze back towards him, his teeth bared. Orochimaru raised his head, revealing his outerskin had been shredded and thus showed his current host's face.

He smiled as he walked back on the bridge towards us.

"Now I see, why they placed _you_ in charge of this group—in charge of Naruto. It seems Konoha benefited from my experiments after all. Wouldn't agree, my little lab right?"

Beside me, Yamato stiffened.

"It doesn't matter now," I said loudly before Kabuto could remark. "What's done in the past has already been set in stone. Are you really so old that you _have_ to find yourself reminiscing about the past at time like this?"

Orochimaru scowled at me before raising a hand back to his face to repair it.

"Impatient girl," Orochimaru sneered.

I sighed in exasperation. "Long story short: You stole remains of the First Hokage, experiment on what, sixty? Yeah, sixty kids, thought all of them died, then you were discovered… but one of them lived and here he is."

Orochimaru's hand fell away and his eyes narrowed. "You seem well informed, girl."

I muttered under my breath.

"Mmm, well if only I had brought Sasuke-kun with me… it would have been interesting to see him pitied against Naruto-kun."

At his tone and words, two more chakra tails grew from Naruto. Naruto snarled, "He doesn't belong to you." Naruto's entire body quivered in unhidden rage. "Don't talk about him… like he's some toy that you own!"

Overpowering chakra flowed out of Naruto, streams of red chakra swirled in the air. I inwardly winced at the pressure of the demonic chakra. My mind threatened to wander back to my first encounter with the four tails.

The wind burnt with the bits of chakra mixed in it, the trees shook violently behind us.

A sudden spike of pressure had the railings dent off and Naruto burn a hole into the bridge, all in a flash. The wind slowly fell, soon dying completely. The chakra that threatened to overwhelmed us, condensed back into Naruto.

A chilling sense of fear ran up and down my spine.

I had learned long ago to fear the staged cloak. I didn't want a repeat.

I found myself wishing fevently for Jiraiya to have come along.

Yet somehow, all through this, Orochimaru continued to smile creepily.

My eyes snapped over to Sasori. He was watching it all transpire with interest.

I clenched my hands into a fist, flexing it as a way to relax me.

Kabuto's hand glowed blue and he charged forward. My mind flashed back to the anime before I quickly dismissed it. Naruto swung his head around, snarling dangerously. Kabuto faltered in his steps, but did not stop or retreat.

His mistake.

Naruto opened his mouth and sent down a sheer blast of condensed chakra into a roar.

The roar ruptured the entire middle bridge and sent Kabuto flying back.

My hand snapped forward, into a fist as Kabuto came back towards me.

I felt a sick satisfaction when I heard a crack as it connected to his head. Kabuto's body was still being pushed on from the attack so he rolled with the punch, flipping over my hand and flying back into the forest behind us.

I leapt back with Yamato and Sai to avoid the rest of the blast.

The bridge slowly crumbled underneath us, forcing us to jump back to our side. Naruto and Orochimaru jumped across to the other side, and quickly out of view. I glanced back at my other two teammates to see Sai had already summoned his bird and was quickly flying away.

I looked back at Yamato with a raised eyebrow.

On the other side of the ravine, a large explosion echoed, kicking up quite a bit of dust that could rival the size of a super cell tornado.

Yamato gave a slight wince, clutching his shoulder. I frowned and move forward, my hand already glowing green.

After I healed his bruised shoulder he thanked me before creating a wooden clone. The wooden clone then jumped across the ravine—with the help of summoning a wooden branch.

Just as the clone reached the other side, scarily familiar chakra burst from the other side of the ravine. The clone quickly created a shield for himself as trees and rocks flew away from the sheer pressure of the chakra.

I winced, my hand flying down to my concealed scar.

Soon the clone was out of sight.

"The fourth tail…" I murmured. "It appeared, didn't it?"

Yamato glanced at me and gave a slow nod. "Jiraiya-sama informed me of both of yours previous encounter with it. It seems to have surface here."

"Then we better seal it," I said. "That takes priority… while Naruto in that state he's… he's in pain…" I shook my head, glancing over at Sasori who now bothered to join us.

Another explosion echoed from Naruto's side.

"We won't get close enough at this rate," Yamato muttered.

"It seems Sasori won't be coming, after all."

Yamato and I swung our heads around to see Kabuto slowly coming out of the forest. I scowled at the fact I hadn't knocked him unconscious, but I confess I did feel slightly better at noticing how his entire right side of his head was coated in dried blood.

"Didn't kill you? Damn."

Kabuto ignored me. "He was the only one who should've known I was coming here today. He didn't even tell the rest of the Akatsuki. And yet, your group from Konoha showed up. I seriously doubt you forced that information out of him through interrogation. In which case, he must've told you voluntarily.

"Your performance from earlier," Kabuto said after a pause, "was nearly flawless. Someone in your group must have met Sasori in person to have been able to do that. And that's when he gave you the information about today, correct? Of course, he probably thought the mind-control technique he'd placed on me was still in effect. That Sasori bothered to tell you about today means he's acknowledged your strength."

Kabuto stared down at us impassively. "Sasori hated Orochimaru-sama and was always talking about how he wanted to get back at him. He wouldn't have handed the task over to you unless he was unable to do it himself. In other words, he's either being held captive or he has already passed away."

"Correct," I said after a moment. "He's being held captive in _my_ custody."

Yamato glanced at me sharply. Oh. Did he not know that? Oh well.

"Really? So you were the one to have defeated him?"

"Yes," I said with a smile.

A giant explosion rocked our world for a moment, all of our gazes snapped back to the other side of the ravine, only to see a billowing piles of dust and dirt kicked up in the air.

A couple seconds passed before my baby boy(s) came flying back to our side, to land less than thirty feet away from us. Orochimaru's summoned sword, pressing down on him.

Fluffy-Naruto gripped the sword tightly, trying to break it away from him.

Despite my fear, I couldn't help the spike of worry for them.

Kurama… Naruto…

It startled me, really, how off guard it came. I wanted to do something—I wanted to _help_. I couldn't allow my fear from one encounter hinder myself from helping my sons. That was… that would be wrong.

I unclipped my weights, releasing all of them.

Yamato glanced at me sharply. "Sakura…?"

I really shouldn't do this. I really should think twice about this, at the very least.

But I couldn't _not_ do it…

I shook my head, and then before my fear could force any more (logical reasoning) doubts, I pushed in as much chakra as I could into my feet and I leapt.

My fist swung out, pushing chakra inside it as it connected against the legendary sword.

The sword swung away from me—away from Fluffy-Naruto. I glanced back over my shoulder to see him. Fluffy-Naruto glanced towards me for a brief moment before swinging his gaze back to Orochimaru.

I flipped over the sword, kicking off it to land back on our side.

Orochimaru sent me a furious glare at my interference. Nonetheless, he withdrew his sword, swallowing it back down.

Fluffy-Naruto let out a deafening roar.

I looked back at Yamato. "Captain Yamato—now's your chance!"

Yamato's eyes flashed towards me and he gave a slow nod before he began to perform rapid handseals.

Wood erupted around Fluffy-Naruto, trapping him effectively. Yamato ran forward, performing more handseals before he slammed his right palm into Fluffy-Naruto's chest. A bright green light glowed from the hand and Yamato leapt back, pulling a string of chakra with him.

Wooden pillars appeared from the ground and Fluffy-Naruto let out a distressed roar. Chakra pulsed from Yamato's chakra but slowly, ever so slowly the burning chakra resided back into Naruto. I winced at the fleshy skin it left behind and made a cautious step towards him.

Then another step, and another.

When the cloak was entirely gone, I had already stepped behind him. My arms wrapped around him as he fell back into me. I openly winced again, seeing his state.

My hands flickered green and I wasted no time in beginning to repair Naruto. Naruto breathed heavily, his breaths coming out in ragged gasps. I swallowed roughly as another patch of skin reappeared on Naruto.

Minutes ticked by in utter silence until I was done.

"Momma?" Naruto whispered hoarsely.

I smiled down at him. "Hey baby-boy."

Naruto struggled to sit up, I grinned and glomped him.

"Eh? Momma? What happened…?"

I ruffled his hair. "Don't worry about it, Naruto. Eto… before I forget… where _is_ Sai?"

"Ah… right now Sai is—" Yamato was cut off when he received a walkie-talkie message from his wooden clone. He frowned as he listened to it. "Right now Sai is heading off somewhere with Orochimaru."

"Aw damn it, not _another_ one," I whined.

Sasori shook his head.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

After grabbing Sai's dropped stuff and Naruto shouting sense into Yamato—or perhaps it was illogical reasoning?—we headed off to find Sai.

Along the way Yamato explained in that in the big meal he had given us at the resort, he had implanted seeds to allow him to track us at all times. With the exception of me of course.

Yamato shot me a mock glare. "Because Sakura was overly cautious though, she didn't receive one."

I grinned. "I like having my whereabouts kept secret whenever I can. Even if you're the Captain, I don't want you to know where I go _always._"

"Eh? Momma how'd you know there was something in the food anyway? You weren't actually cautious from Sasori, were you? Because you ate at Ichiraku's with me when we got back from Suna," Naruto accused.

"Is that so?" Yamato murmured, glancing over at me.

I smiled. "I have a way of knowing things."

"Apparently," Sasori muttered.

I shot him an amused/smug look.

After a while of running, we were forced to take a break. During the break, we went through Sai's book and discussed a brief strategy before we took off again. All of us eager to bring Sai back from Orochimaru and rescue him.

Damn, déjà vu anyone?

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Dear Sakura,

I'll take that bet.

I bet one more week of them being a team.

Naruto has a way with… words, after all.

Yours,

Gaara

* * *

_:S I'm horrible at fight scenes. No, really I am. I can't take them seriously and if I read them in a story I usually skip them unless they're entertaining. However... just for some of my reviewers..._

_I wrote a special crack **fight** between **Sasuke **and **Sakura**._

_So. I'll do my official A/N note at the very bottom. So if you don't like fights, skip the actual fight and just read the dialogue. If you do. Here you go. This is an extra long, overally dramatic fight._

_I am so sorry for its horrendousness. _

_It's crack in the way that it has nothing to do with the story. At all. It's completely AU to the story. Or well... kind of. It's like an Omake, almost... er, I guess the actual fight is a little ways into it... hmm..._

* * *

"Oh come on," I whined. "Please?"

"No," Sasuke said firmly.

"Please?"

"_No_."

"Why _noooot_?"

"You can't handle fighting me at my full power," Sasuke said.

"You don't know that," I argued. "So long as you don't use Susanoo and Amaterasu then I can handle you just fine."

Sasuke stared at me a while, considering my statement. "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes!"

"Well..."

"Oh for God's sake, if you don't fight me I swear I will start selling your boxers to the fangirls again!"

"Sakura!"

"I mean it!"

"Damn it. Fine."

"Yay," I cheered, doing a little mini dance.

"Meet me at training grounds three at eight o'clock tomorrow morning," Sasuke instructed. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to hide my boxers... _again_."

"Hide them all you want, Itachi loves me more so he'll totally help me find them," I said smugly. Sasuke just shot me a dirty look.

Still a little more than smug, I turned on my heel and skipped away.

* * *

"You're going to fight Mini-Itachi?" Kisame asked incredulously. I sat beside him and Sasori at my home, nibbling on my PB&J sandwhich.

"Yep!" I chirped.

"Momma, are you sure about this?" Naruto asked worriedly. He was sitting across from me, nibbling on some of the chocolate cookies I baked for him and my so definitely Harem-Akatsuki.

No, I'm not a pervert. I can't help it if Kisame is just so awesome.

"So long as Mini-Itachi doesn't use his haxxing moves, I'll be fine," I consoled.

"But..."

"Sweetheart, are you doubting Momma?"

"No..."

"I am," Sasori said dryly, flipping another page in the Konoha newspaper.

"No one asked you," I retorted. I then quickly turned around, my face morphing into a hopeful expression as I looked at Kisame. "What about you, Kisame-sama? Do you doubt me?"

Kisame shifted nervously. "It's not that, Sakura-chan... it's just... well... he's _Mini-Itachi_. And worse, he's _not_ Itachi. He won't hold back on you because he's certainly not a gentleman."

I gasped, clearly crushed at my idol's lack of support. Kisame winced and moved quickly to pat my head in a reassuring way but it was too late. The damage was done. I stood up from my chair and rushed out of the room, before finding Hinata and glomping her.

"I was just in th-the bathroom, what happened _now_?" Hinata inquired.

"Everyone doubts my ability to kick Sasuke's ass!"

"I don't doubt it," Hinata assured me. "I know you c-can win, Sakura-chan."

"Thanks Hinata-chan," I sniffed. "At least I have _one_ real friend."

"Aw, come on-Momma!"

"Not listening," I shouted back. "Come on Hinata, let's go to the hotsprings..."

"Um... okay?"

* * *

_**To make matters easier for the authoress and a bit easier for the reader (I think), the authoress shall be writing in Third POV.**_

Sakura shifted her weight from the balls of her feet to her toes and back again. She repeated this process, her body moving slightly in synch with the gentle wind. Sasuke stood directly across from her, his katana nowhere in sight. The two stared at each other for a while, neither making a sudden sound or movement. It was Sasuke who broke the silence. "They're watching."

"I know," Sakura replied evenly. "They should be staying out of the way."

"Of course. Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Positive," Sakura confirmed. "Are you ready?"

Sasuke paused, mockingly considering the question. His head tilted slightly and he stared back at her. "I am."

A heartbeat passed and then the two leapt away from each other. Sakura quickly backpedled away, knowing Sasuke was more of a close to mid-range combat type. She could switch to long distance and fight long distance if need be, and it would probably be more advantageous for her to play it a bit safer. She knew with his Sharingan things would be a lot more difficult. She would have to either move fast enough to overcome that disadvantage or somehow manage to control the battle with sneak attacks.

She gave a thin smile. She knew quite a few. She wouldn't use her poison style unless absolutely necessary. It somehow felt like cheating. However, if she wanted to enter ANBU within the next month then she had better be able to keep up with Sasuke. If she couldn't push him enough then there was no way she could survive in ANBU. This was a test of her skills to see if she was ready.

Her hands clenched into fists and her body tensed. Which sneak attack should she choose first though? Oh... oh, yes... She knew.

Hands traveled down to her weights around her ankle, unclasping them and setting them down gently. Her eyes never left his, as he watched and waited for her to make the first move. After she had removed all of her weights she brought her hands up into the first start of her jutsu. It was a standard chakra gathering sign. "Water Release: Hiding in Mist Technique."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as the area around them quickly became covered in a thick, cold mist. Sakura felt her chakra fluctuate slightly before she suppressed it completely in the mist. Her hands moved again, now certain that Sasuke could not see them. There was a slight rush of chakra that left her before it traveled down to the ground.

She grinned.

Sasuke's eyes stayed narrowed as he scanned the area around him, his body tense and alert. He could no longer feel her chakra signature. He would have expected nothing less, seeing how she had worked for weeks with Kisame on this particular move. He had never seen it in action and had no clue what her plan of attack would be in this mist. He wouldn't release it. He could. But he wouldn't.

He wanted this to be a challenge.

Besides, he wasn't entirely sure he _really_ could. He could never release Kisame's and if she had been training hard enough under his tutelage then it could be assumed he wouldn't be able to release hers either. But he would like to imagine he could so he merely consented to himself that he would not-not because he _could not-_but because he was in the mood for a challenge.

A heartbeat passed and he saw the first fist come to him. His sharp gaze caught it and he quickly bent away from it. She was fast. Outrageously so without her weights. Not as fast as Lee. But damn well close.

His hand shot up to grab her but her arm was already out of sight, dissolving back into the mist. It was only a second later that another hand shot out. Sasuke defleted it with his own arm, sending it further away from him and caught the first full glimpse of her. His arm snaked out, intent on grabbing her or landing a blow but she was already gone, back into the mist. Sasuke's eyes narrowed into slits.

It was time to take it up a notch.

The next attack she sent out, Sasuke's Sharingan flared to life and with unnerving precision he was able to grab hold of her forearm just as she was able to disappear again. Gripping it tightly he twisted his body to bring her towards him, his leg kicking out to deliver a nasty blow to her side. But she was just as quick. Her body twisted and her free arm jutted out to push off his upcoming leg and she twisted up and away from him. Sasuke still held tight to her forearm, yanking it away, knowing it would be causing her some serious pain if she continued her flip to freedom. It didn't hinder her enough to stop in the end though. Soon she was out of his grasp again, albeit her right arm-the one he had grabbed-was dangling at her side. She sent him a glare and he smirked back in return as she disappeared into the mist.

"Are weapons allowed?" Sasuke inquired.

"Did you bring yours?" Sakura's voice came out as a faint echo from the mist.

"In a summoning scroll," Sasuke replied.

"Then yes. You may use your katana so long as I can use my own katana."

"Deal," Sasuke said, already pulling out a small black summoning scroll. He unrolled it and with a faint pop his beloved chakra-enhancing katana presented itself.

He easily swung it in his right hand, gripping it with ease as he discarded the scroll with his left hand.

He had one more moment to himself before she attacked again. Katana clashed with katana. Sakura's own pitch black katana that had been a gift to her from her... as she liked to refer to them 'Her Own Harem' about a year after the Fourth War. Kisame and Sasori had been training her to use it ever since. The two katanas struggled against each other, and Sasuke released his own chakra into his. Lightning flared to life on it and Sakura grimaced, pulling away. Her earth type and water type natures were horrendous to compete with Sasuke's lightning type. While he would lose if he resorted to his fire type, so long as he stayed with his lightning type he would win.

She dissolved into the mist and this time Sasuke decided to pursue her. Her Sharingan tracked her movement as she appeared in the next attack, aiming for a low stab. He deflected the attack, leaping high above her and swinging his own katana in an arc. She twisted her body to move away and his katana connected with the ground instead. She rolled away, popping back up to dissolve into the mist again but before she could, Sasuke's left hand raised towards her. A Chidori crackled before he shot out a long thin beam towards her.

Her eyes widened and she narrowly avoided the attack. While she dodged that attack however, Sasuke flickered towards her, his katana effectively stabbing her straight through the abdomen. However... something felt... _off_ when he stabbed her. The hairs on the back of his neck raised and his head snapped around just in time to see another Sakura swinging her fist towards him. It was far too late to do anything about it and her fist connected solidly agains this cheek. Sasuke was sent flying away.

Sasuke glowered in annoyance as he moved his body to land properly against a tree, still in the mist. It was an effective strategy. The entire time the person he thought was Sakura from the beginning was in actuality a rock clone. The Sakura that attacked him was more than likely another rock clone. Under normal circumstances he would have been able to tell the difference from a rock clone and the real one, however in this mist... in a mist that was thick and layered with _her_ chakra, it would be near impossible to tell which one of her would be the _real_ one. He doubted even someone with the Byakugan would have been able to spot the difference with such ease. Granted, they probably would in the end but...

Sasuke felt his lips twitch. It was an effective strategy to use with the Hidden Mist. It had already been proven that while in the mist the user and the clone are near impossible to differentiate, even with the Sharingan. Kakashi and Zabuza had proven that in their own fight. He should have guessed Sakura would have used that to her advantage.

Not to mention while he was busy focusing on one of the clones, he wouldn't have suspected another one was waiting for him to lodge his katana in the other one-thus preventing him for using it so quickly-before attack.

Smart.

But only good for one shot.

And she had to know that too. Now he would be fighting with the real one, more than likely. Sakura was never one to repeat a strategy in battle. Something about how it just grew too boring that way.

Sasuke flexed his fingers before flickering back to where his katana laid in a pile of rock rubble. He picked it up, and swung just as the real Sakura emerged from the ground with her own katana, intent on stabbing him. His katana deflected hers and he stared into her smirking face. He leapt away as she completely emerged from the ground before flickering towards him. He brought his katana up just in time and the two met in perfect synch. His own katana flickered with lightning and she was once again forced to disengage.

She gave a half heated glare and he only smirked in reply. His left arm rose with Chidori crackling to life. Only instead of a long Chidori sword as normal, Sasuke created his Chidori senbon.

The mass of lightning needles flew towards her and she wasted no time in leaping up into the air. But Sasuke was quick to follow. With another flicker he was up in the air with her, his leg already swinging out and his knee jamming into her stomach. Her mouth reflexively opened as she was forcibly deprived of air. She flew to the ground and landed with a sickening thud as the ground cracked around her. She glared at him, before rolling away from the crater. Sasuke flew down, still smirking.

Three water-style dragons flew out of the mist towards him. Sasuke's smirk vanished and his eyes widened. He was in midair. He couldn't dodge.

_Damn it,_ he thought. _Time to pull a Naruto_.

His hands flew up into the Ram sign before summoning a shadow clone that pulled him away from the first two dragons and flew him towards the ground. The third dragon, however twisted and before Sasuke could summon another clone, the dragon dug into him. The force of water sent the young Uchiha flying away into the ground. As the pressure of the water intensified, Sasuke was forced to release his breath else he would pass out.

When the water passed, Sasuke was soaking wet with a very sore and bruised chest. He glared at Sakura. She smirked and winked before dissolving into the mist.

Sasuke stood up slowly, still glaring silently and he swung his katana in his grip, flexing his hold. He took the first step and through sheer instinct alone was he able to leap back up into the air just as the ground he had _just stepped on _exploded.

As he was back in the air, he stared at the small explosion. Of course.

Of _course_ she put mines in.

Through the corner of his eye he could see three more water dragons heading his way.

Her plan was to either keep him in the air where she would attack him with water dragons, or keep him on the ground and fight in close combat while he had to worry about mines.

"You bitch," Sasuke said.

Her laughter echoed around him.

This wouldn't work out well with him. Take the water dragon or chance the mines. Water dragon... mines... water dragon... mines...

Or Susanoo.

Hmm...

Sakura felt giddy as she watched through the mist the three new water dragons race towards him. She was getting a bit low on chakra but she had plenty of her and Sasori's specially made chakra shots with her. This match was as good as hers.

That was, until, Sasuke started glowing purple.

Not _really_ purple.

But she knew what was coming.

"That's fucking cheating!" Sakura howled as Sasuke summoned his mini version of Susanoo and easily deflected her water dragons.

"I never said I _wouldn't_ use it. It's clear you can handle me without using them-and without resorting to your poison. But let's see how you can handle me with them?"

"I can't!" Sakura howled as Sasuke just grinned sadistically.

Sasuke fell to the ground, landing on the first mine and detonating it. But of course because he had his _stupid Susanoo_ it did absolutely _nothing_.

How the hell was she supposed to compete with _that_? She didn't have enough chakra for that!

There was only one thing to do.

_Fine,_ Sakura thought vehemently. _If he wants to be that way, Ibuse and I will show!_

She bit down into her palm before slamming it into the ground. The ground gave a slight rumble beneath her.

"If you summon Ibuse, I'll use Amaterasu," Sasuke practically sung.

"You dipshit," Sakura accused.

"You love me anyway," Sasuke said, completely smug.

"You'll use Amaterasu even if I don't summon Ibuse," Sakura grouched.

Sasuke paused, considering this. "Yes. Yes you are correct. Here. I'll give you three minutes without my Susanoo for taijutsu."

Sakura frowned, "Really?"

"Yes. I feel gracious."

Sakura wasn't sure about _that _but... it gave her a chance to inflict more damage to him while also buy time for Ibuse. Sakura gripped her black katana in her hands before she flickered towards him. His Susanoo dissolved and his katana met hers. Her body twisted and she dislodged her sword to swing a kick towards him. He jumped over it, his katana making another arc as he brought it down on her. She swung her's back up to shield herself from the blow. Sasuke continued to flip into the air before he was forced to pull his katana back to complete the flip over her. She rolled underneath him before popping back on her feet and rushing to him. He flickered back to her, his katana glowing blue with lightning.

He sliced in a perfect sweeping motion where her head once was. She had ducked underneath the attack pulling up close to him and jamming her sword straight through his gut.

He poofed out of existence and her eyes widened in disbelief.

A strong blow from the back of her head sent her flying away. Her head throbbed painfully and she twisted her body automatically and reflexively to land properly. Her vision doubled and she shakily stood up. Her left hand flickered green as she brought it up to the back of her head. Sasuke stood a little ways from her, smirking. She was bleeding, but it wasn't too much. After she close the skin around the wound, she pulled back her bloodied hand.

She flickered forward and the two met in combat once again.

His free arm swung out from where their two katanas were engaged to deliever a Chidori-filled punch and she twisted away from it, disloding her katana in the process. She continued to twist, performing a full circle and with its momentum she sliced the katana straight through him. Or what would have been straight through him had he not jumped away, back up into the air.

She stared up at him, their eyes locking and he gave her a taunting smile.

She paled. She knew that smile. He was about to do something douchey.

His right eye bled and she gave a small squeal before turning on her heel and fleeing.

"I am _not_ fighting against you when you use Amaterasu! That's way too dangerous!... And painful!"

Sasuke laughed as the first spew of black flames chased after her. She jumped behind a large boulder, where the Amaterasu landed instead.

"You asshole!" Sakura screeched.

Sasuke just continued to laugh quietly in amusement.

"If you're going to cheat then so am I!"

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Sasuke asked rhetorically.

"Naruto! Kurama! Protect Mommy!"

Sasuke blinked. Naruto and Kurama...?

That was all he had time for before two fists connected into his face and he was sent flying way.

Oh.

Damn it, that was _so_ cheating!

* * *

_This ending made me giggle. I think we all know what happens from there. How is Kurama in it? I'll leave that up to you. How does Sasuke have the Mangekyo even though he didn't kill Itachi? Magic._

_This, as I stated before, was completely random. I am terrible at fight scenes, as you can clearly see. But I wanted to try it. I felt like Sasori's was too anticlimatic. Will I ever write like this in the actual story?_

_Who knows._

_Anyway..._

_**Answer: **I guess who I would be is kind of obvious. Sakura... or Sasuke, or Rin, I suppose. It would be cool to have Itachi as an older brother and I'm definitely an Obito and younger Kakashi fan. Or just Kakashi fan..._

_I liked all of your answers. :) I think some of those would definitely make some interesting stories... a girl falling into the Narutoverse and ending up in a boy's body... or a boy falling in and ending up in a girl's body... _

**_The Question: _**_If you could have any **one **person as your private Shisho/Sensei from Naruto, who would it be?_

_So. Reviews are **love**._


	37. Once A Loser, Always A Loser

_"Jashin-putting the laughter in manslaughter."_

_-Anonymous_

**_Disclaimer: _**_Naruto is Kishomoto's toy. I'm just playing with it._

**_Warning: _**_Language._

* * *

Dear Gaara,

Hanzō of the Salamander was the summoner before me. For a time, he was a noble man with a strong conviction. He believed that a strong conviction would have survived death of its owner, living on. Conviction to him, wasn't visible to the eyes, but could only be perceived through a fight. For a time, he fought for peace.

As he grew older though, he became paranoid and lost his conviction, ultimately leading to his demise.

Despite this, I greatly admire him.

Ibuse misses him.

Do you have someone you admire?

Falling asleep on Ibuse,

Sakura

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

When we caught up to the wooden clone—outside of Orochimaru's base—Yamato made me swallow one of his tracking seeds. Once that was done, Yamato then proceeded to the break into the hideout.

Yamato made a giant hole, leading to an underground tunnel he formed. I jumped in after him, Naruto following behind me.

After a while of crawling in the dark, Yamato reached the first wall of the underground base. He wasted no time in making a small, quiet hole—just large enough for us to fit through.

One by one, we crawled through. Then following behind Yamato quietly, we headed off to find Sai. Although, Yamato knew where he was from the tracking seed…

I had to admit I felt something like a secret agent doing all this running around in stealth mode.

Sasori drifted behind us, his face clearly stating he was bored. Maybe I should have asked him to sing some James Bond music while we doing this.

Past the third hallway, Yamato had us stop at a door. Carefully he opened it.

"Thought you would be here," Yamato said quietly, opening the door wide enough to slip in. Naruto and I followed in behind him.

Sai turned to face us, smiling.

"Nothing less expected from the Hokage's ANBU."

I tilted my head, searching for the packet. I found it on the bed, moving forward, I grabbed it. Sai watched me without making a movement.

Naruto moved forward, his eyes flashing dangerously as he grabbed Sai by the shirt. "Bastard, why the hell did you turn traitor on us?"

"You really shouldn't be so noisy, or things will get even more difficult."

Naruto looked ready to say more, but I cut him off with a sharp, "Naruto."

"Tch," Naruto muttered, releasing Sai roughly. I rummaged through my back pocket, producing Sai's drawing book. I handed it to him. Sai took it with a soft thank you.

"You're just following Danzō's orders," I murmured. "Am I right? The go between for Orochimaru and Dnazō in their latest plot to destroy Konoha."

"No, that's not—"

"Shut up, we know that smile is fake," Naruto growled. "And we also know you're lying!"

Sai didn't say anything for a long while. When he did, he refused to stop smiling. "Now that you've discovered me here, my mission is a failure. I can't finish you all by myself. And since you've figured this much out, there's no point in trying to hide the truth."

His smile dropped and he opened his eyes. "It's just as you said. We're trying to destroy the current Konoha. I was to be taken in by Orochimaru with the understanding I would help him conspire against Konoha. That is the true mission that was assigned to me."

"Do you understand what you're saying?!" Naruto demanded.

"That's not all. I'm also to secretly send back information on Orochimaru to Danzō-sama. In other words, I'm working as a spy."

"Keep talking," Yamato said.

"Double agent," I muttered.

"The moment Konoha is destroyed, Orochimaru will betray us. It's a preventative measure to make sure we keep the upper hand. The information I write on scrolls, turns into small animals and escapes. That is how I leak the information without compromising my safety. I was chosen for this mission because of that ability."

"This will only bring more harm than good," I said. "Do you really understand what it is you're doing?"

"Who cares? I'm just following orders. One more thing. The name 'Sai' was assigned to me for this mission. I am no one. I am merely one of Danzō-sama's arms. I do not exist. There is no point in saying anything to me."

"If that's true, why do you treasure that picture book so much?" I asked, deciding it was time to pick up the pace and move on. I wasn't very patient, I suppose.

Sai's eyes widened briefly before relaxing as he looked down at his book. A rueful expression crossed over his face.

"The two boys on the front, are you and your brother. If you really are no one, then why is that book so precious to you?" When he didn't answer, I decided to answer for him. "Because it's the only thing that proves you exist—right? You haven't lost your emotions as much as you claim. No one can fully throw away their emotions. The fact that you accepted the book and even thanked me for it, proves it. You were relieved. "

"In what way does carrying this picture book around prove I exist?"

"Because you can't bare to part with it," I said. "Because you loved your brother and you didn't want to lose the one thing you could keep to remind of him and yourself—your bond with him..."

Was that right? I knew Sai had a thing for bonds... Hope I phrased that right.

Sai's eyes widened as he stared at me. "Bond?"

"We took a look inside of the book. Only the two center pages are incomplete. Sai, I know you are from ANBU ROOT. I also know that Danzō had you undergo special training to help you kill your emotions. In order to seal away all emotions, you underwent the vile training Kirigakure once used," Yamato further elaborated.

"That was Zabuza's village," Naruto muttered.

"Where the infamous graduation test existed," I murmured. "A battle to the death with all the students. Or a battle to the death against your friends. Does that sound about right, Sai?"

"Going by the flow of the book, you take the weapons and armor of the foes you defeat," Yamato went on. "When you get to the center of the pages, you would have had to fight your brother. You killed your—"

"I did not," Sai said. "This was supposed to be a present for my brother. But just when the picture book was almost complete, he… died from a disease. There are a lot of children in Root who were torn away from their parents because of war. He and I got along with each other as if we were real brothers, even though we weren't related by blood. He often praised my pictures. The center two pages were the ones I wanted to show him the most, but since he died I can't remember what I wanted to draw on them."

I closed my eyes, sighing through my nose. "We need to leave."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Back outside the base, with Sai tied up in wooden ropes, Naruto claimed it was time to get back to the mission of saving Sasuke.

"You shouldn't bother," Sai said after hearing this. Naruto frowned, glancing down at him. "Orochimaru is constantly with Sasuke, you would have to fight him again… Also… Sasuke does not care about you anymore."

Naruto was silent for a minute before he spoke again. "Sasuke is my friend. Someone who I was finally able to form a bond with. I don't care who I have to fight. If he rips my arms off, I'll kick him to death. If he rips my legs off, I'll bite him to death. If he rips my head off, I'll stare him to death. And if he gouges out my eyes, I'll curse him from beyond the grave."

Sai glanced up at Naruto with wide eyes.

Naruto grinned. "Even if I'm torn to shreds, I'm taking Sasuke back from Orochimaru!"

"That wouldn't be something you see every day," I commented.

Sasori shook his head. "It would certainly be interesting though... Perhaps Hidan could volunteer..."

I fought to hide my grin. This was a serious situation. I shouldn't be grinning. I shouldn't be grinning. I shouldn't be grinning.

Damn it, Sasori. This was all his fault.

"We move as soon as the clone is complete," Yamato said, taking a step forward.

A rush of tingling sensation crawled up and down my spine and I reacted on instinct. I lurched back and away from Sai, just in time to see a handful of kunai land on the ground where Naruto, Yamato and I just were.

More kunai whirled towards us, forcing me to flip in midair to avoid them. Kabuto landed in front of Sai, his back turned to him.

"And here I thought we'd managed to fool our tracker. But you are one of Orochimaru-sama's guinea pigs, so I suppose it's not unexpected."

"Jealous lapdog?" I called out.

He ignored me. "Sai, I see you've been taken prisoner."

"Take a hike," Naruto said. "If you don't leave, I won't hold back."

Kabuto didn't respond, instead a clone Naruto charged from above him, holding the Rasengan. Kabuto side stepped the clone and quickly dispelled it. "You're wasting your time."

"You don't know until you try!" Naruto growled, already summoning up more clones. Four clones charged towards Kabuto while the real Naruto vanished from my sight for a moment.

I scoffed, my hands forming rapid handseals.

The ground underneath Kabuto turned into mud, throwing him off balance enough for one of Naruto's clones to land a punch against him.

My hands moved quickly.

Kabuto glowered slightly before pulling himself out of the mud.

"Water Style: Water Dragon!"

Just as I finished my justu, Yamato finished his. Wooden boxed roots sprung up from the ground, twirling and twisting in the air towards Kabuto. Kabuto quickly grabbed Sai and attempted to dodge the roots. My dragon twisted in the air, heading straight for Kabuto.

Sadly though, Kabuto managed a last minute dodging, forcing my dragon to hit into the small rocky mountain—hill?—behind him. The top of the mountain crumbled away from my attack.

"Damn," I muttered.

"That was poor," Sasori said from beside me.

"So I don't have a _hundred_ percent accuracy, sue me."

Kabuto sliced Sai free from his bonds, stepping forward with a smirk. "I must say, I genuinely feel sorry for you people. Especially you, Naruto-kun. You're the most pitiful one the lot. Even if you do defeat me, you're wasting your time. People change. Sasuke-kun's not the same person that you used to know."

In a single movement, Sai gripped Kabuto's hand, twisted it back and forced him down on to the ground. I don't think I had even seen Naruto gap as much as he did at that moment.

"Ironic how the traitor was betrayed by another traitor," Sasori mused.

"What's the meaning of this?" Kabuto hissed. "Your mission was to be the liaison between Orochimaru-sama and Danzō."

"You said people change," Sai said. "That means I can, too."

"_What?_"

"But, there are also things that don't change," Sai continued. "That bond… I want to see it for myself."

This was directed at Naruto. Naruto smiled.

Yamato landed beside Sai and Kabuto, where he quickly summoned wood to wrap around Kabuto. Yamato summoned a wood clone to guard him.

I moved, jumping from my spot to land beside Naruto and Sai.

"Sai, what are you thinking?" Naruto asked softly.

"I want to know why you go so far for Sasuke-kun and what bonds really are," Sai responded. According to you two, I still have bonds with my brother. If such bonds are really that important, then I might understand them better if I see you and Sasuke-kun. That is all."

Naruto smiled. "Now where would Sasuke be…?"

"By now? Probably finished with his training and heading back to his room in the inner area," I answered absently, frowning thoughtfully.

Sai blinked. "That would be correct. Sasuke-kun left to train with Orochimaru earlier. How did you know such things, Sakura?"

"How _did_ you know that?" Kabuto asked, his gaze hard as he stared up at me.

I blinked. Oops.

"I know things. Leave it at that for now."

Naruto chuckled. "Momma has a habit of always knowing things she shouldn't. Pervy-Sage always backs her up on it and I've learned to as well."

My lips twitched. "But I don't know which room. We'll have to search all of them. But we will need to proceed with caution. Orochimaru's room is most likely there as well. Shall we go ahead and get started?"

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

The four of us ran down the eerily lit hallways, our footsteps echoing softly. The candles flickered around us and Yamato raised his hand for us to stop.

"We will split up from here on. The teams will be Saura and myself, and Naruto and Sai," Yamato said. "Focus your chakra if something happens. I'll rush to you as quickly as I can. Okay… Move out!"

Yamato and I ran down one hallway, Sai and Naruto down another.

Our footsteps echoed softly, quickly paced and the only sound down the hallway. We came across the first door, opening it carefully to find it empty before we moved on.

Another door, followed by a third one. Fourth and fifth, sixth and seventh. Eight, nine, ten, eleven. Twelve… thirteen…

A sharp spike of a familiar chakra had us halting in our steps. Naruto had just summoned up a small army of clones.

Yamato and I exchanged a glance before we ran towards the spike of chakra. We reached him in a minute, only to find Orochimaru standing in front of us.

Orochimaru froze. "Naruto-kun, I will let you live for now. Please do your best to kill at least one Akatsuki member for me, okay? Now then, I have business with that Sai boy. If you'll excuse me."

He was gone.

Naruto cursed under his breath.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

An explosion rocked the base, forcing me to momentarily falter in my pursuit. But only for a moment before I was off and running towards the sound, sprinting, really.

Naruto and Yamato had went down a separate hall, I would meet up with them later.

I burst out into the now destroyed clearing, rushing towards Sai.

**(Third Person POV – Sai)**

Sai stood up shakily from the explosion, his entire body tense and alert as he stared up at the threat known as Uchiha Sasuke.

Before either of the two could make a movement or sound, Sakura burst into the clearing. She didn't even seem to notice Sasuke, rushing straight towards Sai instead.

"Sai, are you okay?" she questioned, her face screwed up in mild worry.

Only mild of course. From the short time he had known Sakura, he had already come to the conclusion she very rarely took things seriously. It was almost refreshing from his previous times in the stoic world of Root.

"I am fine," Sai said calmly.

"Sakura."

It was Sasuke who had spoken. His voice, at first glance held no emotion. But Sai was a trained ANBU and knew how to read people. Even if he himself didn't understand people from before… but After Naruto's influence he could slowly see why people did what they did.

Sasuke's voice, at first glance held no emotion. But there was a twinge of mild curiosity in it—and amusement.

Sakura froze at the voice, her eyes momentarily widening before she turned to look up at her former teammate.

She relaxed and gave an easy smirk. "Duck-Ass."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed slightly—though it was difficult to see with the sun shining from above and behind him.

"Flat-Chest," Sasuke said, matching her tone with ease.

"How have you been?" Sakura asked, her stance and tone giving off the impression she was merely talking to a dear friend she hasn't seen in a while.

Completely contradictory to the situation at hand—talking casually with a dangerous opponent.

When Sasuke did not answer—no surprise to Sai—Sakura huffed and moved her hand to rummage through the pack she carried around. Although her eyes never strayed from Sasuke's.

It was at that moment that Naruto rushed from the other hallway, running forward to meet Sakura. His footsteps faltered when he noticed the direction of her gaze. He stopped completely upon reaching both Sai and Sakura, turning to face Sasuke with wide eyes.

"Naruto," Sasuke noted. "So you're here too? I assume Kakashi's with you as well."

Sai didn't even glance back as Yamato entered the demolished clearing as well. Though Yamato's voice screamed casual, his entire body was tense and alert.

"Sorry, but I'm not Kakashi-san," Yamato said, moving to stand beside the group.

"Kakashi's taking a vacation," Sakura said a hint of teasing in her voice. "Yamato-taichou is acting in his place. We're _supposed_ to bring you back to Konoha."

Her tone and emphasis on _supposed_ clearly showed she didn't believe this was going to happen, but it showed she clearly didn't mind either. If anything, she seemed to find the whole situation amusing.

Sai wondered what exactly amused her so.

Sasuke must have noticed it as well, his eyes flashed with something akin to curiosity before returning back to their stoic self.

Sai drew his blade, preparing himself for a battle that he knew would come soon.

The whole reason he had found Sasuke was to bring him back to Konoha—to protect the bond that Naruto had so passionately declared existed. A bond in which that intrigued Sai greatly.

"So he's my replacement?" Sasuke asked, mildly curious. "Another loser joins the ranks."

"Takes one to know one, Duck-Ass," Sakura called, a hint of laughter in her voice. "But don't be jealous. Once a loser, always a loser in my book."

Sasuke's eyes flashed again, though Sai doubt the others had noticed. Perhaps Yamato had.

"Same as ever, Pinky," Sasuke commented sardonically.

"I know you missed me," Sakura teased.

And it was just that, Sai had come to realize. She was teasing him exactly like old comrades. As if he had never defected and betrayed Konoha in the first place.

It was surely a strange sight as Sai had never seen anyone act so casual in related situations.

Sai's mind briefly wandered to the conversation Naruto had made with him back inside the base. How he was so sure Sakura was the only reason Team 7 stayed together for so long. Sai had wondered momentarily how anyone could keep a dysfunctional team together at all—it seemed unlikely but now Sai had his answer.

He had read once in a book that people naturally orbited themselves to those calm in a crisis situation. It was one of the basic foundations to why a leader must always keep their heads during a mission. He read further how people were drawn to those—subconsciously or consciously—to those who could bring them amusement or happiness.

It was one of the theories he thought applied to himself and Naruto.

But now he can see both theories take place in this situation.

Sakura rarely took things seriously, and at first glance it could be accused as carelessness. But Sai had yet to see Sakura discard information and throw herself into the fray with reckless ambitions. She had yet to even go through with anything without seeming to think it through. Perhaps looks were deceiving, but Sai was declined to agree such things when concerning her.

Then there was her offhandedness to dismiss a situation so easily and prove to others as well, that it was being blown out of proportion. Sai could argue it was merely a down-to-Earth type nature, but that wouldn't be quite right. She could be eccentric at times, from what can be gathered from Naruto's comments.

But she seemed to always be in tune with her comrades. Or more precisely, with Naruto.

She was deceptively perceptive, her behavior seemingly uncaring to her surroundings. It was a contradictory in of itself.

But it was because of this that led her to form certain bonds between her teammates.

Naruto, for example.

Naruto was brash yet able to come up with ingenious plans on the battlefield. He's hotheaded, determined and—there really was no other word for it—pure hearted. From Naruto's file, he had been orphaned at a young age and forced to live without family or friends for the majority of his childhood.

Sakura's perceptive nature most likely led her to be in tune with Naruto's emotions. What other way to explain how she could so carefully tell what he's feeling and know exactly how to act?

Sai could most likely conclude her 'mother' role was taken on by herself to fulfill one of Naruto's needs. More than likely she was trying to ease his suffering by taking on an important role—a maternal role. Even if she herself did not consciously realize it.

Furthermore, based off of these observations, it can be concluded that she was more than likely in tune with both Kakashi and Sasuke.

And after observing the exchange just moments ago, Sai could safely say she was—if only a little—in tune with Sasuke.

It was, perhaps, for that reason alone that both seem so relaxed towards each other. Their bond is a—or at least it _appears_ to be—symbiotic relationship. The reason Sakura remains at such good terms with Sasuke is because neither of them seem to _care_ about the situation.

If Sai didn't know any better, he would have said they were _both_ amused by the situation.

Sai shook his head slightly.

The bonds between this team was certainly strange. And the bonds surrounding Sakura seemed even more strange and twice as complicated.

Sai wondered if he would be able to form a similar bond with Sakura.

"While it is true that my secret mission was to assassinate you, Sasuke-kun," Sai began, "I don't care about my orders anymore. I want to act on my own free will. And I think Naruto-kun can help me remember what it is like to feel again. I think that is something very important."

Sai paused. "I don't know much about you, but there must be a reason why Naruto-kun and Sakura-san came all this way just for you! They're going all out to keep their bonds with you from being severed. I still don't understand it myself but, Sasuke-kun you should!"

Sasuke was quiet for a moment before he spoke. His tone dropped down to stoic and his expression became unreadable—even for Sai.

"Oh, I do." Sasuke paused. "That's why I severed them."

Sai's eyes flickered towards the group.

Naruto's face looked stricken and Yamato looked grim. And Sakura…

Sakura seemed even more amused. _Was she snickering?_

It was then that Sai decided he doubted he could ever understand the enigma that was Haruno Sakura.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

**(First Person POV – Sakura)**

I felt like chuckling like mad when Sasuke said that. It just seemed so… _melodramatic_. I felt like I was in a soap opera, I really did.

"I have a different 'bond.' A bond of hatred with my brother," Sasuke said—his expression unreadable.

So dramatic…

I was tempted to say—_That's a shitty bond, you should get a refund. _But somehow I had the feeling that would just make him grouchy.

"… Other bonds may confuse you," Sasuke went on, remaining apathetic. "…and distract you from your greatest desires and the emotions that matter."

At his words I felt a small falter in myself. A pause and for a worrying second I thought my plan wouldn't work. But there was no point in worrying about it now, the least I could do was try.

"Then why…?" Naruto asked softly. "Why didn't you…? Why didn't you kill me?! Is this your idea of cutting off bonds, Sasuke?!"

"The reason is simple. It's not that I couldn't cut off my bonds with you. The idea of doing what _he_ said in order to become more powerful made me sick."

"What're you talking about?" Naruto asked.

"I don't owe you any explanations."

Naruto looked sharply at me and I smiled. "I'll explain it later."

Naruto gave a single nod before looking back at Sasuke. Sasuke ignored the exchange, instead he chose to appear right in front of Naruto in half a second.

He stepped to his side, his left arm wrapping around loosely to Naruto's front as his left hand rested on Naruto's right shoulder.

I pulled out the red scroll.

"Come to think of it, wasn't it your dream to become Hokage?" Sasuke asked. "You should've spent your time training instead of wasting it running around chasing me. Right, Naruto? After this, I'm going to kill you on a whim."

Every so slowly, Sasuke pulled out his special katana from behind him around his wasit.

"Someone who can't save even one friend isn't fit to become Hokage. Right, Sasuke?" Naruto said, his voice low.

Sasuke's blade swung slowly from behind and I moved—as did Sai.

My right hand, that held the scroll, clenchted tightly. My left hand darted out and grabbed hold of Sasuke's arm, stopping him from attacking. I stood behind Naruto, my gaze locked to Sasuke.

"Bad Duck-Ass," I scolded lightly.

He didn't even blink. "That was the correct way to block my attack."

I squeezed his arm tightly, my right hand moving forward and prodding his left hand. His eyes slid over to the scroll, then swung back to me.

I gave a slow nod. "Have I ever let you down before?"

It was stare down, but Sasuke took the scroll nonetheless. I grinned.

Naruto moved, grabbing Sasuke's arm and trying to flip away. Sasuke's eyes flashed as his Sharingan took place. His fingers flickered with electricity as he sent sparks of it flying around him. It was enough to send Naruto whirling back. I cringed and released his arm, stepping back. The electricity sparked all over, hitting Sai and effectively knocking him out.

He glanced down at the scroll before he carefully tucked it away.

Yamato stared at Sasuke a moment before pulling out a kunai and rushing forward. Sasuke raised his arm, raising his sword with it. His sword glowed a bright pale blue, electricity circling around it and he charged towards Yamato.

Yamato raised his kunai in attempt to block the sword—but the sword went straight through it and into Yamato's chest.

"That was the incorrect way to block my attack," Sasuke said. "My sword of Kusanagi is a unique blade. Guarding against it is impossible."

"Duck-Ass… I kind of need him alive," I commented dryly.

Sasuke's eyes flickered towards me and I shrugged. I rushed forward, bringing out my fist to punch away the sword. Sasuke made a last minute dodge, jumping back and away from me.

I raised an eyebrow at him. He stared at me impassively.

My hands flickered green as I kneeled beside Yamato, repairing the numbing damage done to his lungs. Lucky for him Sasuke only broke a rib, didn't even touch the chest. Still…

Naruto gave a low growl from where he laid, struggling to sit up. Sasuke glanced at him, his eyes flashing and they locked eyes.

Slowly, Sai shook his head and sat up.

Taking the chance at the distraction, Yamato performed a quick handseal. Wood erupted from the ground, intent on capturing Sasuke. Sasuke scowled before jumping back up and out of the crater.

It was deadly quiet.

Sasuke's scowl faded and he returned to staring down impassively at us. His hands then moved into rapid handseals.

"I've had enough of you," Sasuke said.

He then raised his left hand above his head, his entire body glowed blue with chakra—only to have Orochimaru appear from nowhere and grab his hand.

The chakra subsided.

"You are not using that technique, Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru said firmly.

"Beat it."

"Come now," Kabuto said, appearing from the other side of Sasuke. "You're still using such foul language with Orochimaru-sama?"

"I don't see a reason to stop."

"You know what the Akatsuki is up to, don't you?" Kabuto asked. "That's why we want Konoha to help eliminate them. Even if it's just one. If the other Akatsuki members interfere, then you'll have more trouble taking your revenge, right?"

"That's pathetic," Sasuke said.

"It's an opportunity to improve your chances, even if by only 1%."

After a long moment, Sasuke's hand relaxed and Orochimaru released him. Sasuke sheathed his sword, sparing us one last glance.

And then they were gone.

I finished repairing Yamato, and moved to kneel beside Naruto. His face looked stricken and his eyes were unusually bright.

I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him into a tight hug.

"Don't worry, Momma will make things all better," I promised him.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

**(Third Person POV – Sasuke)**

Sasuke has been left to his own devices when they had reached the new base. Normally he would have gone straight off and slept, but he had something else to do apparently.

So instead he lit a candle in his temporary room and pulled out the scroll Sakura had given him.

It was odd. She really couldn't have known she was going to see him. Orochimaru had made it clear this whole scenario was supposedly a surprise to the team—with the exception of Sasuke's replacement.

A curious thing, really.

But what's even more curious was the fact Sasuke even bothered with the scroll. Perhaps it was because some part of him still trusted her. Perhaps it was because she seemed so ready to trust him. But more than likely it was just morbid curiosity at what was inside it.

Tied to the front of the scroll was an envelope, in large bolded letters it read, 'READ ME FIRST!'

Sasuke carefully untied the scroll, setting it down on his temporary desk and opened the letter.

He read it.

Dear Duck-Ass,

Let me tell you this now, this letter is probably going to leave you with some unanswered questions. But if you _do_ read it, then you're going to be super grateful towards me.

Or at least you better. Do you have any idea how much of a hassle it was to make that scroll?

First things first…

Don't let Orochimaru read this letter. This is mostly for your safety than my own.

I know when Orochimaru is about ready to take a new body—your body—you will kill him. There is not a doubt in my mind you will succeed at this.

I know you then intend to create a team to track down Itachi. The team will then be used to prevent any outside help on Itachi's part. Don't ask me how I know this(Not that you could anyway for the moment...).

The following I'm going to tell you will be a bit difficult to understand—but you must know that I _do_ know these things. I'll prove it to you.

For your team, you're going to take Suigetsu first. His ability is to pretty much turn into water. He's a master swordsman and he will want Zabuza's old blade. You remember Zabuza, don't you? Well, in exchange for being your teammate, he wants the blade. Don't bother looking at Zabuza's grave for it, it's long gone. It was taken by a man named Tenzen Daikoko. He's a lot like Gato.

You're next going to take Karin—from the Southern hideout, correct? She's a chakra sensor, she smells chakra. Red head, glasses, etc, etc. She won't be _too_ difficult to convince. But I warn you—she's a fan girl. Creepy fan girl. Like… like… I can't think of anyone who can match her.

Finally, there's Jūgo. Once again, he shouldn't be too hard to convince. Just beat down his cursed side and he'll follow you around like a puppy. It's actually quite adorable.

And to prove to you some more… Karin and Suigetsu will argue like an old married couple. A lot.

You have been warned.

Now on to my real reason for this letter…

It's about the Akatsuki.

After you have your team you will come across two Akatsuki members.

They will not be Itachi and Kisame. They will be a duo by the names of Deidara and Tobi.

Do not bother trying to kill Tobi—he cannot be killed. I am not saying this just so you can turn around and focus your attacks on him out of spite. I am saying this to save you time and effort. Tobi will not directly attack you anyway.

They will not know where Itachi is so don't even bother. But don't think you can escape them either. You would have defeated Orochimaru by this point and as such Deidara will feel compelled to challenge you.

The reason I wrote this for you, is because I want you to defeat Deidara.

But do not kill him.

I will provide you with as much information as I can on Deidara to make the battle go in your favor. In return, I ask that you simply knock him out and then open the red scroll provided.

If you have no intentions of doing this, please burn the scroll immediately.

Don't bother opening the scroll without Deidara unconscious and nearby, it has been designed specifically for my purposes.

Now for the information…

Deidara is an S-Rank missing-nin from Iwagakure's Explosion Corps. He possess the Explosion Release kekkai genkai. This allows him to use two chakra natures to give his chakra explosive qualities. He also possesses special mouths in the palms of his hands—and on his chest, left side. The mouths knead the chakra into clay.

He can than use this clay to take virtually any form. He can control the clay after releasing it. The clay creatures are very deadly as they can explode at any time he wishes. You must be very careful of this. He can create a small army of very small sized creatures that can be difficult to avoid. However, the smaller the creature, the smaller the explosion.

Deidara is a long-ranged fighter. He has a scope on his left eye capable of seeing large distances. He has trained himself to be highly resistant to genjustus, so don't even bother.

I can give you a list of strategies he may or may not use against you. He may attack from above using a bomb, he may attack you with C1—low explosives—fleas. The Chidori Senbon would prove useful in stopping them.

He might create a clay dragon, C2 explosives. If he does this, it is likely it will regurgitate a cluster of land mines. Tobi will take these landmines and hide them in the ground while Deidara will keep you distracted.

If he has moved on to the C2 explosives, be careful. Even if you go into your Cursed Seal level 2, the explosions are powerful enough to cost you a few limbs.

He might use a C4. It would probably in your best interest to stop this from happening. He will ingest clay into his own mouth and spew it out to create a giant replica of himself.

The mouth on his chest must never be activated or used. If he does, he will blow himself up at a ten mile radius, effectively killing him.

Oh… as I said before he is a long ranged fighter and as such will be trying to fly for the majority of the battle.

… I think that's it.

Oh, yes, and your team will not be with you when you encounter Deidara. Just be prepared.

So if you could pretty please knock him out and use the scroll, I would be super grateful.

The next Akatsuki members you meet will be Itachi and Kisame so… good luck, I guess.

Before I forget…

Change your outfit. Seriously. What the hell is up with the open shirt shit? You look… Well, you look like you've become Orochimaru's sex toy.

Also, what's with the purple…?

You might want to reconsider your wardrobe. Wouldn't want Itachi to die laughing at seeing your ridiculous outfit, now would you?

Did you know Gaara became Kazekage?

No matter what Karin says, it's not normal for girls to bathe in the guys' hot springs.

Can I have Jūgo when you're done? He's so adorable.

Have you been spying on Kabuto for me? If you haven't, then you might as well start now. Because I have questions for you and if you don't have answers I'm castrating you.

Okay, that's it for now. See you when you fight Itachi!

With _oodles_ and _oodles_ of love,

Sakura

Sasuke stared at the letter, a mixture of emotions running in him. Irritation at Sakura for her comments on his appearance, amusement for her parting signature but mostly… shock.

There was no way for Sakura to have known any of this information. From what Sasuke could gather it looked as though she was speaking of the future—something no one should be able to see. Yet here it was.

Sasuke knew Sakura was perceptive. He knew she was observant, but could that all have been simply because she _knew_ these things were going to happen?

Sasuke would have said it was impossible.

He glanced back at the scroll, eyeing it warily.

Only time would tell.

In the meantime he had training.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Dear Sakura,

You already know the person I admire.

Naruto truly is an amazing person.

Yours,

Gaara

* * *

_So... there's Sasuke everyone... I think this story is Sakura-centric, now that I think about it. :I Oh well. _

_Can anyone guess what's in the scroll?_

**_Why hasn't Sakura and Kurama interacted much?_**

_How? Kurama isn't inside of _her_, and she certainly isn't a sealing master. Besides, Kurama shared his over all feelings for humans during the Fourth War and how he needed to watch Naruto grow for himself in order to 'redeem humanity in his eyes.' In the beginning Naruto was just some annoying boy who took his chakra. Naruto had to prove himself to Kurama and he can't do that until he's able to beat Kurama which he can't do until he undergoes the proper training with Bee-sama. He could, I conceed, not treat Kurama with such hostility but then again they aren't really at a _bad_ relationship. And Kurama certainly won't start acting nicer just because Naruto does. However, that _was_ one of the things I intended to change. Way back in part I Sakura mentioned how Kurama wasn't a monster but Naruto didn't entirely believe her. I meant to further elaborate on that but forgot._

_My bad._

_I have the utmost intentions of rectifying _that_ issue straight away. I probably would have still forgotten about it until the very end :I Oops._

_Thank you for pointing this out to me._

**_Who will Sakura be paired with... Hint?_**

_I've debated on this for quite some time. As most of you can guess this is a humor/parody story above all else so romance takes a back seat._

_If Sakura would be paired with anyone it would... _

_Nah, I'm kidding. I'm not telling until the end. I know. I know. I'm evil. Shame on me. Shame, shame, shame. _

**_Answer: _**_Hmm... either Jiraiya or Nagato or Tobi... I think they would be fun senseis. But if I had to choose then probably Tobi. I'm too infatuated with him to_ not_ have him as my sensei. I actually wanted him to be Sakura's shisho but Jiraiya just seemed better at the time and explaining how they became student/teacher would have been way too troublesome... Shhh, don't tell Jiraiya. ;)_

**_The Question: _**_What is the one thing you would love to change about Naruto? Be it characters or plotline or hell, just something funny you want to see happen._


	38. Playing Along

_"I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder."_

_-Anonymous_

_**Disclaimer: **Still. Don't. Own. Naruto. Damn it. _

_**Warning: **Sakura when she's annoyed. And violence._

* * *

Dear Gaara,

How are you feeling after your run in with the Akatsuki?

How is Suna faring from the attack on the Akatsuki?

Maybe I'm just being overly cautious, but I guess I can't help but to worry about you.

Hope you don't mind.

Sittin' on Ibuse's head,

Sakura

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Once the mission report with Tsunade was done, we were dismissed for standby until our next mission. I headed home, intent on grabbing a warm meal and nap.

At home, with an old fashion PB&J sandwich and some milk, I glanced over at Sasori.

He raised an eyebrow. "I was not expecting such outcomes. The fact that Orochimaru was able to release my technique and the fact that a subordinate of _mine_ betrayed _me_, irritates me to no end. No wonder you wanted me to come along, you were wanting to see a reaction out of me."

"Yes," I admitted, unabashed.

"Which is strange, because you had no way of knowing such things," Sasori continued. "Nor for the fact that you would run in with your former teammate. Yet you clearly knew all of this and more. How is that?"

"I know things," I said with a smile.

"Clearly, but _how_ do you know things?"

I opened my mouth to reply but was cut off at from a knock at the door. I glanced back. "Come in!"

The front door clicked and creaked open. Light footsteps sounded down the hallway towards the kitchen. I smiled at the familiar chakra.

Jiraiya entered the kitchen. "Yo."

"Hi Shisho, I was just about to eat. Want to join me?"

"Ah, I wouldn't mind some food," Jiraiya said with a grin.

I gave a nod and stood up from my chair. I paused. "Actually, before I forget… wait right here."

Jiraiya gave a small nod and I raced off to my room. After rummaging through some drawers, I found the filled syringe and raced back downstairs. I handed Jiraiya the syringe.

"Is this…?" Jiraiya raised an eyebrow.

I nodded.

Jiraiya gave a sigh before injecting himself with the liquid inside the syringe. Sasori eyed us with impatience.

Jiraiya blinked a few times then turned around and face Sasori. "You must be Sasori."

Sasori's eyes widened. "You can see me?"

I moved to make Jiraiya a sandwich, replying to Sasori as I went. "Of course he can. I injected him with a special concotion and a smidgeon of my blood **(Don't ever try this at home, dearies.)**. He'll be able to see those in the Spirit Prisoner—and hear them—now."

Sasori's gaze swung from me to Jiraiya and back.

"Sasori was starting to question my knowledge of things," I told Jiraiya, handing him the plate with his sandwich on it. I then moved to pour him some milk. "Think I should go ahead and give him the answer or let him keep guessing?"

Jiraiya chuckled. "He'll never get it right. Besides, seeing how you'll be stuck with him for a while, might as well."

I shrugged and handed Jiraiya his milk before sitting down at the table.

"I can see the future," I told Sasori, completely seriously.

Sasori stared at me. "Preposterous."

I rolled my eyes. "Do I really have to prove it to you more?"

Sasori continued to stare at me. "How?"

"Eto… how to prove it to you or how do I see into the future?"

"How do you see into the future?"

"Ah… I just do?"

Sasori's eyes narrowed.

I shook my head and turned back to Jiraiya. "The mission was a partial success. Sasuke received the scroll and letter. Now it's just a matter of if he'll actually go through with it…"

Jiraiya's eyes closed briefly. "Let's hope he will."

"What was in the letter?"

I glanced at Sasori. "I explained to Sasuke how to defeat Deidara, among a few other things." I then chuckled. "Tsunade's probably pissed off at Danzō now. I do not envy him."

Jiraiya snorted softly. "I don't either, especially for what you have planned for him in the future."

I grinned.

Sasori eyed us wearily. "You truly believe you can see the future."

"_A_ future," I corrected. "Once I muck things up enough here, I'll be pretty useless."

"Is that how you knew how to fight me?" Sasori asked. There wasn't any resentment in his tone, just mild curiosity.

I smiled. "Yep. I can see a future really clearly—it's like it's etched into my brain, y'know? Though for what I saw with you… you died."

Sasori stared at me. "Impossible."

I shook my head. "Granny Chiyo and Sakura killed you. It was the same, mostly, up until I captured you. After the poison gas failed, you had used the Kazekage's jutsu—iron sand. You pretty much got rid of the Mother and Father puppets that Chiyo carried with her… After creating a sort of iron forest, you finally pricked Sakura with the poison. Unknown to you, Sakura had the antidote and played dead. She did it until the Kazekage puppet came close enough and then she smashed it."

I shrugged. "You ended up having to use your hundred puppets—revealing the truth about your body and such—and Chiyo had to use her ten puppets. Sakura and Chiyo knocked your heart out of your body and sealed your body. Your heart container went to another puppet, but they didn't know until it was too late. Sadly though, on your final attack for them, Chiyo used the Mother and Father puppets to stab through your heart."

I shook my head. "As a parting gift you told Sakura about your meeting with the lapdog. Then you died."

Sasori stared at me before he shook his head, floating off.

I sighed. "Guess he needs time to think. Anyway, I'm guessing you came over for the mission report, right?"

Jiraiya nodded. "Correct. I'll be taking my leave of the village for a while but when I come back I want to train you."

Both my eyebrows shot up. "Not Naruto?"

Jiraiya grinned. "Kakashi has plans for Naruto already. I'll be hogging you to all to myself."

I chuckled. "Well alrighty then. Ah… I should probably meet up with Sai and Naruto now."

I moved, grabbing both of our plates and stacking our glasses on them. I leaned forward and patted Jiraiya's head before putting the dishes in the sink. Jiraiya chuckled good naturedly and let me pet him a second time.

I smiled at him before heading out the door, reminding Jiraiya to lock up when he left.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

A week has passed since then. At the moment I sat on Kakashi's hospital bed, playing with his fingers because I could.

Tsunade was leaning over Kakashi, examining him. She blinked a few times before straightening up and saying, "Everything seems in order. Alright, we'll discharge you today."

"Is it because you want me to get rid of the extra 'baggage' over there?" Kakashi asked incredulously, glancing over at the other hospital bed to his left.

I looked over to find Naruto sleeping in a very odd position and snoring loudly in the bed. I chuckled and continued to entertain myself.

"That was a factor," Tsunade chuckled.

"I thought I'd have a few days to be lazy… err, recover at my house, but I'm completely out of books to read so we might as well get his training going.

"Might as well," Tsunade said.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

While Kakashi and Naruto began their training, Tsunade made me work at the hospital. I didn't particularly mind, but I didn't particularly care for it either. It gave me practice for medical training but it was still long hours and tiring.

Oh well. It passed time until our next mission

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Two days later, we were off on another mission.

Hours slowly ticked by, walking at a steady pace on the dirt road. We had fallen into companionable silence, the wind blowing softly around us.

Behind me, Naruto and Sai had stopped. I paused in my footsteps, turning back to look at them. Sasori had raised a thin, mocking eyebrow.

Naruto was squatting on the ground, his hands pressed together in what I knew would be a training stance. I sighed, realizing he was practicing his wind nature all the way out here. I knew his training had begun from what he informed me over our latest lunch together. He was ecstatic over it, of course. But he was also having some difficulty with it. He had asked me how I trained.

I explained to him how I had a natural affinity for earth, and that's why I was so good at earth jutsus but lacked an affinity for water and that's why it took me well over a year before I could master _one_ water-type. I said for me, I just required an ass ton of practice and through repetition my chakra would become more familiar with the two natures. Once I had water enough so that way I could use _at least_ four different water type moves, I would try and move on to either wind or fire next. Probably fire.

I was such a pyromaniac.

Shh, don't tell anyone. I'm more of a closet-pyromaniac.

"Naruto, we're going to leave you behind," I called.

Naruto ignored me and my mind reflected back to mission at hand. We were called to protect some graves from tomb raiders. Lately some graves had been violated, or defiled, within a 50 to 60 mile radius of the requesting temple. None of the treasures or corpses were touched, so it was a curious thing.

Supposedly the raiders were looking for hidden tombs—graves of ninja.

Which was a pretty accurate assumption, considering what arc I thought we were in.

But back to reality...

With a sigh, I forcibly dragged Naruto along and we continued walking.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

The moon high above, we reached the rendezvous point. I relaxed by the small stature and yawned tiredly. Naruto moved to sit beside me and yawned as well. He glanced at me with a hopeful look.

"I spoil you," I said with a sigh, moving to lean against the statue and stretched out my legs.

"Thanks Momma!" Naruto cheered, laying his head on my lap.

"I'm playing with your hair," I told him.

He gave a mock sigh.

I chuckled. "Don't make me braid it."

"It's too short for that."

"Watch me."

While I attempted to braid Naruto's bangs (failing epically, I might add—he was right, it _was_ too short) Naruto relaxed in my lap and began to slowly doze off.

An hour passed and Yamato frowned. "They should have been here by now. I'll go and check."

I nudged Naruto awake. "I will too. Oi, up boy. Yamato and I are going to go check things out."

Naruto gave a low grumble but otherwise complied, rolling off of me with a grunt.

I stood up and stretched, moving to stand beside Yamato.

"Don't worry Naruto-kun, I'll stay by your side," Sai said reassuringly. I had to cover my mouth to hold in my laugh. This was when Sai misinterpreted Naruto's squatting earlier for fear, and… Ah… Sai. Priceless. I probably should inform Sai that Naruto was just training a bit more and save everyone a major misunderstanding later on but...

To hell with it. Even if I couldn't witness it first hand I could still giggle about it knowing it was happening.

Yamato nodded at me and we were off.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Imagine our surprise when Yamato and I finally found the monks, went back only to find Naruto gone and Sai frowning thoughtfully. Immediately we rushed off when we heard the explosion, only to find Naruto on the ground—scowling and Sora being a dick and growling.

Sorry, slip of tongue. It turns out, I very much disliked anyone being mean to Naruto in front of me. At all.

Like, ever.

After finally reaching my son and hugging him tightly I glowered at Sora.

Naruto looked positively smug, looking at the sheepish Sora.

Chiriku stared disapprovingly at Sora. Sora looked sheepish before hardening. "Chiriku-sama, you were right to be worried. I got worried about the hidden tomb on the way to meet our guests, and came to investigate. When I did, the barrier had been torn down, the coffin was stolen and he was inside."

"Hey! Are you trying to pin your crimes on me?" Naruto growled. I patted his head. "You're the real thief, aren't you?!"

"What are you saying?! You were in the tomb first!" Sora retorted.

"And the conffin was already gone when I went in!"

"Oh yeah? Prove it!"

"If my son stole the coffin, where the hell would he place it?" I snapped, my voice coming out clipped.

Sora's eyes swung towards me and he bristled. Naruto shot him another smug look.

Chiriku cleared his throat, quickly killing any retort Sora might have had in mind. "Brethren from Konoha, I am Chiriku of the Fire Temple. I apologize for the mistake in establishing the rendezvous point."

"Eh? You mean he's a guest?" Sora asked, wide eyed.

"This is Sora, a monk in training, also from the temple," Chiriku introduced.

I huffed. "I'm Haruno Sakura, and you fought my adopted son, Naruto."

"I'm Yamato, captain of this team."

"My name is Sai."

Sora immediately turned his back to us to face Chiriku. "I already said it, didn't I? We don't need any help from Konoha!"

"Sora," Chiriku said patiently, though it was clear in his tone that he didn't want to have _that_ particular discussion again.

The two other monks returned from investigating the tomb. "Chiriku-sama! Kitane-sama's coffin has been stolen, with no traces of forced entry. To break the barrier so easily, they must be extremely capable shinobi."

Chiriku gave a slow nod. "If the enemies are that skilled, we definitely have good reason to call on Konoha for help. You two go back and make arrangements to defend the remaining three tombs. Also, strengthen the temple's security and start preparations for an emergency situation. Let the rest of us return to the Fire Temple for now."

"Understood."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

After a while of running and jumping we had reached the temple. The group of us stared up at the massive stairs that lead up to the temple before one by one we began to climb them. As Naruto took a final step from the stairs, Sora's foot to struck out, forcing him to trip. In the same motion Sora's arm snatched out, supporting Naruto while at the same time pushing the oblivious blonde back.

"Watch your step," Sora said with a taunting smile.

"Thank you," Naruto said, smiling openly at Sora and completely forgiving him for the fight earlier.

That was until he realized Sora pushed him all the way back.

I bristled. It was one thing to tease my son good naturedly, like Jiraiya. But it was a whole other thing outwardly pick on him. _Especially_ when he was willing to forgive and let go.

Perhaps I was only being so protective because I knew about Naruto's past. Perhaps I just really didn't like bullies, no matter which way they turned out to be. Or perhaps I just generally disliked Sora. Whatever the case, this situation had me a little more than irritable. I decided I really, _really_ didn't like Sora. I couldn't care less at that moment if was a saint in disguise, I had the strongest urge to hurt him. No one messes with _my_ family.

I quickly supported Naruto, preventing him from falling down the stairs, glowering.

I then kicked Sora where the sun don't shine.

Yamato gaped at me in horror and the monks stared at me with wide eyes. Naruto was snickering and Sasori gave me an amused smile.

"Bully him again, I'll kick your ass," I growled.

I then huffed and marched right past the kneeling Sora to Yamato and Chiriku and smiled happily. "Shall we continue?"

Yamato shook his head in exasperation and Chiriku gave me a conflicted smile.

The giant doors swung open and we entered the temple. Chiriku talked to a few of the monks while the rest of us stayed back with Yamato.

"Best Momma ever," Naruto sung happily.

I smiled and patted his head. He seemed positively happy until he noticed Sora—and the gazes the other monks gave him. More like glares. Then his mood dropped and became more curious and suspicious. I frowned at this.

"… I have returned. These four are from Konoha and have come at my request," Chiriku said to an elderly monk.

"Hello. I am Captain Yamato." Yamato gave a small bow. "With me are Sakura, Sai and Naruto."

"Konoha? That's reassuring," the old monk murmured.

"We're prepared to take action anytime," Yamato said.

"We still have to wait for news from our ninja monks in the field. For now, please follow me," Chiriku said, leading us inside the temple. Along the way Chiriku explained about the Twelve Guardian Shinobi and how he—and the four graves—used to be a part of it. Asuma was once part of it too. He explained how a coup d'état was formed within the group, resulting in the deaths of four members—the four graves.

He explained the coup was formed because there was divided interests in the Guardian Shinobi. Some wanted to keep relying on Konoha, others wanted to use military strength to ally all the nations under the Land of Fire's rule.

After the explanation, he began to lead us to our rooms.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

I curled up in my bed mat as Sasori floated over to sit at the edge of the bed.

"Brat," He said, drawing my attention.

I looked up at him, raising an eyebrow in question.

"Why did you do it?" He asked.

"Do what?" I inquired.

"If you really saw my death," Sasori monotoned. "Why did you save me?"

Both of my eyebrows rose up. That wasn't what I was expecting. I moved to sit up in the bed, a frown pulling down the corners of my lips.

"Because you're worth it," I said honestly.

Sasori stared at me, his face remaining blank and for a second—just a second—I could have sworn I saw _something_ flash in his eyes. But I was never good at reading people, so I dismissed it for hopeful thinking.

He tilted his head, an indication for me to elaborate.

"I didn't—I _don't_ think—you deserved to die so soon. I… I guess you could say I care about you to some extent."

"Why? You've never met me."

"The future isn't the only thing I've seen," I murmured. "It's… hard to explain. I suppose when I… when I saw your past and then your future and then… urk. Look, it's hard _not_ to feel about people when you see their life."

Sasori continued to watch me impassively.

"I'm not making any sense am I?" I muttered. "I saved you because I think you're worth it, I saved you because I like you. I saved you because I want you to be happy and I'm going to try and make you happy."

Sasori didn't respond, he just stared at me another moment before floating away. A twinge of sadness wrapped around my heart, but I pushed it aside.

I wasn't very good at this.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Not even an hour later were we called back together. Naruto and Sora arriving a little late.

"There is a report from the people that went to Nauma's location," Yamato explained. "The tomb had been broken into and the corpse was removed."

"At this rate the other two…" Chiriku trailed off.

"We're ready to move," Yamato said.

"Very good."

"I'm coming too," Sora interjected.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

The six of us traveled quickly through the tree tops. Yamato and Chiriku in the lead.

"Isn't this the opposite direction of the hidden tombs?" Yamato asked from ahead of me.

"The thieves are carrying heavy coffins, as well as the corpses inside. With the Fire Temple at the center, only sheer cliffs lie in the realms of Genbu, Seiryuu and Byakko (North, East and West). So if they want to escape these woods, the only route left is Suzaku, to the south!"

In front of me, Sora added more chakra to his pace.

Minutes ticked by until we were out of the forest, entering a vast clearing.

"Killer view," Naruto whistled, taking it all in. I gave a nod in agreement, taking in the vast grassy plains and clear night sky.

"But the enemies won't show their faces out here," I replied.

Just as the words left my lips, Sai pointed out an odd thing. Four moving coffins heading away from us. I blinked at the odd sight of it.

"Those are definitely them," Chiriku muttered.

"Four, not two," I grumbled.

"But why are they moving them so carelessly?" Chiriku questioned. "It's like they want us to notice. "

"We're going to lose them if we don't act now," Naruto said.

"Chiriku-san, please stay here in case we need to contact the Fire Temple," Yamato said. "Naruto and Sora-san, go straight. Sakura and Sai, break left. I will go right."

Sora took off without a word, leaving a very annoyed Naruto to tail behind him. I glanced at Sai and shrugged, jumping off the cliff and diving to the left.

Halfway through the clearing, the coffins immediately stopped and shot up right. Sora shoved Naruto aside and sped up, only to have Naruto jump over his head and take the lead again. Sora grabbed Naruto's foot and slammed him into the ground.

Before I could do a thing to the little punk though, the coffins began to spin rapidly and dug in through the ground.

I sighed as they began bickering again, not finding the energy to get worked up over it.

"Something's off," Yamato cut in—effectively ending the bickering. "Their presence has completely vanished."

All of us paused, attempting to feel for the coffins' signatures, but nothing came up.

A split second passed, and then the ground bellow us erupted.

All of us lurched into the air, eyes wide. The ground erupted all over the clearing, large jagged rocks shot up into the air, separating us. I twisted around, just barely avoiding them all.

Sai was forced away from me.

Sai lurched against a clearing, quickly pulling out a scroll and drawing on it before summoning a—He was cut off from sight.

"Fuck!" I cursed loudly, grabbing hold of a cliff, gripping it with my chakra.

Eventually the land settled.

"They covered the entire land with just one jutsu," Sasori commented.

I knew that already. Just as it has before but... It was such a _hassle_ before and I was already irritated by Sora... I just wasn't in the mood to go along with their trap.

"Fuck them! I am _not_ playing their game," I snarled, releasing my grip on the cliff and dropping down to the rocky floor.

I bit into my palm before I summoned Ibuse.

__How may I be of assistance, Sakura-hime?__

"I've become separated from my team. I need to find them, fast. Can you go underground and see if you can find the nearest one? Sense for their chakra signals."

__I shall return soon, Sakura-hime.__

Ibuse then nose dived into the ground, disappearing from sight.

I huffed.

"If you saw into the future, why did you not warn your teammates of this?" Sasori questioned.

I quirked an eyebrow. "Because some things have to happen. Sora and Naruto have to develop a better relationship and Sora needs to understand why all of this is happening. I may not like Sora at all, but that doesn't mean he's necessasirly a bad person. He deserves to know the truth and a shot at a better life for himself and the only way to do that is to play along with them. Not to mention Naruto needs a better understanding of wind nature, and elemental affinities. Something that lecturing and training won't give him... then there's also that bits and peices of my darling Kurama in Sora that need taken care of... I don't have to like it—I can bitch and moan about it all I want, but it's gotta be done."

Sasori gave a fleeting frown. "Is it really necessasry to play along with them though? Shouldn't you just kill them and be done with it?"

"Like I said, Sora needs to know the truth and accept it. I can't give him that truth without him denying it and making a bigger issue out of it. I'm not a diplomat and I'm not very good with words. Sure I could explain to him what's what, but how do I explain to him how? I don't want anyone else to know about my ability until the time is right and while I'm sure he can keep a secret to some extent, he's still a rash person in general and it's too risky. Not to mention I highly doubt he would accept the truth from _me. _Let alone _accept _it. The only person I know how can give him that much are Asuma and Naruto. Only way for Naruto to do that is to play along into this trap for a bit, long enough for Sora to come and rescue him and establish some sort of bond..."

"You've put a lot of thought into this."

"I've put a lot of thought into everything," I sighed. "Anyway... I don't have to _completely _play along. I refuse to get caught in a stupid genjutsu and I am definitely busting out of here the moment I can but right now..."

I never finished what I was going to say, because in that moment Ibuse popped his head back up. __I have found one of them, Sakura-hime. Shall I take you to him?__

I grinned. "You're amazing, Ibuse."

I then hopped up on his head and chuckled to myself as he practically swam through the tunnel like a fish in the ocean. Ibuse was just so amazing.

We popped back up a couple minutes later.

I blinked in surprise. "Yamato?"

"Sakura?" Yamato replied, stepping away from a rocky tomb with an engraved Konoha symbol on it. Ah. So he already faked his death. Good, that makes things simpler.

"Need a lift?" I asked, patting a spot on Ibuse's head.

Yamato shook his head, frowning slightly before hopping on my epic summon's head.

"Okay Ibuse, back underground! Let's find our next teammate," I declared.

__Happily, my princess.__

Back in the darkness of underground, Yamato asked if I had seen the others.

"No," I admitted. "You?"

"No. But we need to find them, I'm fraid this was a trap set for one of us," Yamato said grimly.

"Not us," I said softly.

More minutes ticked by in silence until we popped back up on the surface.

"Oh shit, Sai!" I exclaimed, jumping off from Ibuse and rushing towards the injured boy. "How in the hell did you get hurt?"

"Sai," Yamato said, also jumping off Ibuse and rushing towards him.

Sai was breathing heavily, a single cut along his shoulder, but he was heavily covered in bruises. He tilted his head in acknowledgement of us. I blinked, I didn't remember Sai getting hurt like this…

"Poison, spider," Sai said thinly. "disrupted my sense of… balance. Fell into another trap. Literally, I'm afraid. I was careless."

"Tch," I muttered, clicking my tongue. "Ibuse, can you tell if the poison is lethal?"

Ibuse's tongue snaked out and licked Sais' bleeding wound—where the supposed poison was. He was quiet for a moment before he answered me.

__Slow acting lethality. Only lethal if it stays in his system for a week. It seems to only be good at disrupting nerve signals.__

I gave a nod. "Okay, I'll find an antidote for you later, right now we need to find the others. Can you move or…?"

At Sai's silence, Yamato took the hint and picked him up. Sai winced slightly. Yamato carried him back ontop of Ibuses's head and I jumped back on it. I gave a nod to Ibuse before my hands flickered green and I attempted to ease my teammate's pain.

Arm broken, dislocated shoulder, bruised ribs… Damn.

A few minutes later of dark tunneling with only my glowing green hands being our light, we popped back up just in time to see Fūka-the creepy pedo-hair-lady-thing-finish her paralysis jutsu on Naruto.

She walked forward, smiling creepily.

"Back off!" Naruto growled, struggling to move.

She grabbed his shoulders.

"Hands off the son, slut!" I snarled, kicking off from Ibuse and attempting to kick the snot out of her.

Her eyes widened and she lurched away from Naruto just as my fist crashed into the ground. Through the corner of my eye I could see Yamato had created handseals, intent on capturing her.

The ground erupted underneath us though, forcing me back and canceling Yamato's handseals. Fudo and Fuen appeared from nowhere, and Fudo used his earth style to create a quick prison for us.

Fūka's eyes narrowed and she glowered at me. "Who are you?"

"His mother!"

"Aren't you a bit young?"

"Aren't you a bit old, slut?!" I howled, struggling in the cage. "Ibuse!"

__Yes, Sakura-hime.__

Ibuse rammed against the prison, shaking it roughly.

Fudo glowered at Ibuse.

My eyes widened, quickly realizing where this was going. I willed my chakra towards Ibuse, quickly canceling his summons.

Ibuse wasn't a direct combat type. No way in hell was I putting him up against a taijutsu monster so carelessly.

Fūka turned her back towards us and then proceeded to suck my son dry of his chakra in a very inappropriate way. Seconds ticked by until she reached my other son's chakra.

She screamed and pushed Naruto away. She fell to the ground, coughing and Naruto was released from his paralysis. "You damn slut."

That was when Sora crashed open the cave wall, sending his blast of wind chakra and knocking Fūka away.

Sora entered, glowering at them. "I've got a kaimyou (nickname for a dead person) ready for all three of you."

Sora then moved to stand in front of Naruto. "I came to save you."

Naruto stood up, huffing slightly. "No one asked for your help."

"Weren't you the one who called out to me?" Sora asked dryly.

"The hell I did!"

"I see. Well, I heard what I heard. Let's go."

"Naruto, Sora, it's too dangerous to fight them! Run for it!" Yamato shouted.

"We won't let you," Fūka said confidently.

Fuen dissapeared only to reappear behind them. Fudo did the same thing, only to reappear to their side.

Sora and Naruto moved back to back, Sora muttering something.

The cave began to shake violently, the ceiling above Naruto and Sora falling down on them and forcing them apart.

"Sorry for the delay!" shouted a very familiar voice. All of our eyes snapped up to see Chiriku along with reinforcements. "Help has arrived."

Seeing the new development, the slut, Fuen and Fudo fled the scenes.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"_Me_ go to _Konoha_?" Sora echoed.

The four of us—not counting Sora, Chiriku and some other monks—were sitting in what I'm guessing is the equivilant of the temple's meeting room.

"We have to return to Konoha," Yamato said. "Considering what's happened, we must report to Hokage-sama and get new orders. I'm quite sure our team will be the ones to continue the mission. How about it, Sora-kun? Would you be willing to lend us a helping hand? As you can see, it's going to take a while for Sai to fully recover. As someone from the Fire Temple who has protected the hidden tombs, I'm sure you'll be able to fill in for Sai just fine."

"You don't have to try that hard to convince him, ya know," Naruto said casually.

I snorted in silent agreement.

"I think that seeing the outside world would be good training for you, but it's your decision, Sora," Chiriku said.

"… Very well."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Dear Sakura,

My body has recovered well, thanks to yours and Naruto's rescue. Chiyo-bāsama actually gave quite a tale about _your_ determination. She even made sure to tell me how you managed to… enter the cave.

I am unsure how I could ever repay you.

Suna has been repairing well, though it seems to have been shaken from the attack. I have no doubt that in time it will prosper again.

I don't mind your concern. I worry for you and Naruto as well.

Yours,

Gaara

* * *

_Sakura dislikes Sora. D: _

_The Sora Arc shall now begin... and probably only last a total of two chapters. Probably._

_Maybe._

_I don't know._

**_Answer: _**_Put Hinata on Team 7 and see how long Sasuke's ego can take Hinata giving _Naruto _the constant praises. I think it would have lasted the first two days. Then he would have defected and enslaved all his fan girls to praise and worship him like the Duck Butt he is._

_Nah, I kid._

_Mostly._

**_Question: _**_Which member of the Akatsuki were you saddest to see die? If you dislike the Akatsuki, then which Naruto character were you saddest to see die in general? _

_Reviews are **love**._


	39. Goodbye Sora, Don't Come Back

_"Please don't see me. Please don't see me. Please don't see me._

'HEY!_'_

_Shiiiiit."_

_-Anonymous_

_**Disclaimer: **Stillllllll donnnnn't oooowwnnn Narrruuuuutooo._

**_Warning: _**_Death. Language. Zombies._

* * *

Dear Gaara,

Do you have any summons?

I've never seen you use them so I'm a little curious.

As you know, I'm summoned with the salamanders. Though I can only summon five different salamanders. :(

But I love them all very much.

Doku is a bit of an ass, but he means well. Gedo is such a sweet heart. Shin is very patient and kind, Hensou is exactly like a younger version of Naruto and Ibuse…

Don't tell anyone but Ibuse is my favorite. He's like my partner in crime. I love him.

I'm actually currently showering my favorite salamander with affection. He got dirty in our last bout so I'm giving him a kick-ass bath. Because you know I can't do things normally, they have to be epic or kick-ass. That's just the kind of person I am.

Bathing Ibuse,

Sakura

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"While Sai is recovering, Sora-kun will be a member of our squad," Yamato said in the small forest clearing back at Konoha. "So we need to practice our formations again."

"Screw that. I wanna do nature manipulation training," Naruto grumbled.

"Heh, the goon says something smart for a change!" Sora scoffed.

"What do you mean _for a change_?"

I resisted the urge to rub my temple.

Naruto huffed but glanced at Yamato. "There's something I want to ask you, Captain Yamato. I've got a bunch of questions about chakra elements and nature manipulation. "

"Oh boy… if I answer you, you'd better take today's training seriously. What is it?"

"Captain Yamato, you said you make wood element by combining water and earth, right?" Naruto asked. "And Kakashi-sensei said that once you become a Jōnin you'd be able to use two or more. Will I be able to use water element or something else someday?"

"That depends. You carry an affinity for certain nature elements from the day you're born, so the only way to know if you're also water-natured is to research."

"Meaning no matter how much I train, it'll be pointless if I don't have it," Naruto concluded.

"Since your main nature is wind, any others you might have are too faint. Jōnin train in order to draw out their second and third element natures."

"So is it rare for someone to have all five elements?" Naruto asked.

"There are no shinobi that can use all five. At least, none that I know of," Yamato said with a frown.

At that response, Naruto's face twisted into confusion and he looked down thoughtfully.

"Was that your only question? Then we'll work on formation now—"

Yamato was cut off from Asuma's laughing in the tree branch above and behind him. Our eyes snapped up towards him.

"You're going to make a tempraroy team like that learn formations?" Asuma asked, clearly amused. "That's a waste of time."

"Asuma-san," Yamato greeted.

"Naruto isn't the type to think before acting, for starters," Asuma commented with a friendly smile. "The same goes for Sora."

"Don't lump me in with him," Sora growled, pointing an accusing finger at Naruto.

"But the smoker has a point," Sasori commented.

"They're both power-types who are better suited to charging straight in," Asuma continued, unabashed. "Put them in the front, let them clear a path, and send the rest of the team in after them."

"… I don't disagree, but…" Yamato trailed off.

"There's no way you'll get those two to learn a new formation so suddenly. Just have them work alongside one another for a while to get a rapport going," Asuma said.

"And after that?" Yamato questioned skeptically.

"Then comes formation training."

"…You're right. For the time being, they should work individually."

"Yes!" Naruto and Sora cheered.

"That means we continue our training from before, right?" Naruto asked eagerly. "Right?! Right, Captain Yamato?!"

"Not without Kakashi-senpai here," Yamato said. "Come to think of it, Asuma-san, you're on standby right now, aren't you?"

Asuma gave a slight cringe, realizing where this was going.

"Since you two have wind-natured chakra, it'd be best to have Asuma-san train you!" Yamato said happily.

"Thank you, Asuma-sensei!" They both said happily before realizing they had spoke in synch again.

I sighed as their bickering began again. "Well I have to go give Ibuse a bath and write my letter to my darling Gaara… Later lovelies—oh and Sora."

I cackled happily at Sora's bristled stance.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"There's going to be another battle coming up," I told Ibuse while I scrubbed away at a particularly dirty spot on his back.

Ibuse laid lying in a shallow pond I created with my fists and water dragon technique. He gave a low rumble not unlike a purr.

__How shall I prepare for it, Sakura-hime?__

Sasori sat on top of Ibuse's head, staring off into space and lost in his own musings, but at Ibuse's question he turned to glance back at me.

I paused thoughtfully. "It's going to be a large scale attack on the village. We'll need to make two sets of poisons. One poison to work as an acid that can deteriorate none living bodies—better add some Actinobacteria to the mix as well as a stabilizer for it. Another poison made for lethality. We can use the standard deaths trap for that one. When you return, inform Doku of my requests please?"

__Happily, Sakura-hime.__

Ibuse let out another blissful sigh as I found a hot spot. "Ah… and better have Gedo make a set of antidotes for the lethality. She knows which ones."

I chuckled and patted him affectionately.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

The next day passed uneventfully for me. I stayed holed up in my room, contemplating strategies and reviewing my jutsus as well as medical training.

Much to my surprise though, Sasori helped me review and gave a few pointers in my strategies.

It was a nice surprise though. I can honestly say I was quite pleasantly surprised with it.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

The following day I escorted Naruto from the hospital after his run in with Sora and the Root ANBU. He explained to me that Sora followed Asuma into an meeting with the Hokage and the council along with a few others. While there, shit got down and Sora accused Asuma of killing his dad. When he attacked Asuma, Sora disappeared.

They were still tracking for him.

"Honestly son, you really need to take better care of yourself," I chuckled, sparring him a sidelong glance.

The usually bright Konoha was uncharacteristically dark and gloomy, it was a dark sunset.

Naruto shrugged, having no response.

"Alright, well I guess I'll be heading back home. You sure you don't want to come over for dinner?" I asked.

"Sorry Momma, maybe later."

I shrugged, watching him as he left before I turned to Sasori with a wide grin. "Guess it's just you and me, bestest buddy."

Sasori snorted.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

On the roof of my house, I looked up at the sky. Lightning flickered across it. It was pretty in of itself. But I had more important things to focus on.

Sasori sat beside me, making no sound as usual. But it was still nice.

Minutes ticked by until the entire village experienced a black out.

"Looks like it's about to start," I said calmly.

"Indeed," Sasori replied.

I closed my eyes. "Part of me wishes I could have told Tsunade about this sooner. I don't want people to get hurt."

"You don't have a choice though," Sasori said pleasantly. "If what you have told me is true, if Danzō discovered the secrets you knew, you would be targeted. You are not skilled enough to fight off Root members. It is more reasonable to only allow very few in on your nasty secret."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it," I muttered. "But I know now giving anonymous tips are useless—Gaara is a prime example. And I cannot give specific tips or vague tips without explaining myself. The excuse 'I know things' doesn't work on the highest authority in the village."

"No, I suppose it does not."

I sighed. "I should probably go and stand with Tsunade. While Jiraiya and Kakashi are not here, she _is_ my Shisho."

I stood up, brushing off nonexistent dirt before hopping across the roofs. Sasori floated behind me, and finally I reached Tsunade's office.

I hopped in through the broken window, surveying the damage Sora had done.

"Sakura," Tsunade greeted sharply, moving to sit at her desk.

"Hokage-sama," I said with a dip of my head. "Shizune-sen pai."

Shizune smiled at me and moved to stand on one side of Tsunade. I moved to stand on the other side, looking out at the dark village.

No one said a word. Bright flashes drew my eye towards the main gate. Shizune immediately interpreted the signals.

"Enemy has been confirmed. They're attacking the main gate," Shizune informed Tsunade, voice grim. "Squad Two has engaged in battle."

"So it has begun," Tsunade said softly.

From the distance I could only see small explosions at the main gate. I frowned.

"The enemy isn't deterred. They're one kilometer from the main gate," Shizune said.

"Have them begin security preparations," Tsunade said sharply.

Shizune dipped her head in acknowledgement of the order.

A minute ticked by and Yamato entered the office. My eyes widened briefly in surprise at seeing him here, so unexpectedly.

"You summoned me, Tsunade-sama?" Yamato inquired.

Tsuande dipped her head. "Sakura, Yamato, earlier I sent Asuma on an assignment. You two must find him and assist him in any way possible."

"Yes, Hokage-sama," I said, a little surprised. I had assumed I would have to find Yamato and Asuma on my own… well, this works too.

"Yes Tsunade-sama," Yamato echoed with a dip of his head. "Let's go, Sakura."

"Right," I said, moving to follow Yamato out of the office and across the roof tops.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"Asuma-senpai," Yamato called out worriedly, as we landed next to a crouching Asuma.

In front of us was a resurrected Kitane. I paid him no attention as I kneeled beside Asuma, my hands flickering green.

"Who's he?" Yamato asked, tensing slightly from the killer intent rolling off of Kitane.

"Kitane, a former Guardian Shinobi and the man inside one of the caskets you were chasing," Asuma said grimly. "The other three have been revived as well."

"So where are they?" Yamato asked.

"They've headed east, west and south in the village. The four were the ultimate lightning-element users. They're planning to use Limelight, a technique regarded as the greatest lightning-element technique in history."

"What is Limelight?" Yamato inquired uneasily.

"Four people enclose an area from the four cardinal directions, and reduce it to ash in an instant. Once they've reached their positions, the village will be destroyed."

"What do we do?" I asked Asuma.

"Don't let the other three reach their destinations! If we can stop even one, the technique won't work," Asuma said.

"Understood," I said, moving off in the west direction.

I bit into my palm and summoned Ibuse. Ibuse blinked up at me lazily. I smiled. "Underground, lethal poison. Follow me."

Ibuse nodded and dove underground and I took off on the roofs.

I glanced around hesitantly, looking for any sign of them. Lightning shot up from the sky in four directions, moving away from me. I rushed towards the nearest one.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

I was lead into the training grounds forest, sprinting as fast as I could.

I stopped short, my sixth sense tingling as kunai landed right where I would have stepped.

"Tch," I muttered. Not enough time had passed. I had to stall. My eyes snapped towards the transy, narrowing in annoyance.

The ground around me erupted, and in less than a second I was imprisoned.

__Sakura-hime, what shall I do?__

"You might be able to stall him more if you play along with his plans," Sasori said. "If you reveal Ibuse so soon by having him dig you out anyway, he might flee."

I gave a nod. "You're right. Damn. How annoying."

Sasori stared at me blandly. "This whole situation is annoying. Is Konoha a magnet for trouble or something akin?"

"Something like that," I said with a smile.

I plopped down on the ground, frowning thoughtfully. Carefully I rummaged through my pack and pulled out a red glowing stick, breaking it to light up the cavern.

I stared at the wall of moths.

Sasori stared at it.

The moths began to move, flickering their wings as pink dust fell off it. Sasori's eyes narrowed. "Don't breathe that in."

"I know," I muttered, pulling out my emergency mask and wrapping it around my mouth. it wouldn't stretch to my nose, but I could cover that.

The moths flew towards me and I stayed perfectly still. Their dust sprinkled off and around me but they didn't' stay too long. Soon they were gone and I still standing in the made cave.

"How much longer, Ibuse?"

__Ten seconds, princess.__

"Bust me out of here then," I said.

Ibuse erupted from the ground beneath me. I grinned as I stood on his head before he ducked back into the ground, only to pop up out of the earth and behind the transy.

I pulled out my only vial of antidote and quickly drank it down, wincing at the bitter taste. I then patted Ibuse on the head.

Fuen whirled around and sputtered. "How did you…? A salamander?"

At my pat, Ibuse released the cloud of poisonous gas. It wasn't even half a second before it reached Fuen. That's the beauty of gas clouds, they spread so quickly and are virtually unavoidable.

Fuen gagged and choked, clutching his throat.

My lip curled up in distaste. I didn't care too much for taking a life, but I had come to these terms long ago. Jiraiya made it plenty clear that while he liked to avoid killing as much as possible, it was something every shinobi had to do at least once in their life.

As a poison mistress, I could not have doubts about using my poison.

Perhaps I could have a small pity fest for me later, but not on the battleground. Doubts in a battle would get you killed.

I patted Ibuse again. "Go back to the village, on your way prepare the corpse poison. Find the biggest mass of zombies and release it. Be careful though. The moment you are in danger and you cannot escape successfully, you poof back to the mountain, understood?"

__Understood, Sakura-hime.__

Ibuse dived back underground, as I jumped off him.

I approached Fuen, noting his shallow breathing and eyes staring up at me in shock.

"Don't worry," I said. "It's a mercy death. By now you don't feel a thing, yes? It'll put you to sleep then stop your heart. You'll be dead within a minute."

Even as I spoke, Fuen's eyes flickered close.

I glanced back at Sasori.

"Let's go," I said quietly.

Sasori glanced back at Fuen before glancing back at me and nodding.

The barrier around the village disappeared, signaling Fuen's death.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

**(Third Person POV – Shikamaru)**

Shikamaru already thought the situation was troublesome enough. The enemies erecting a barrier to keep everyone locked in, all while assaulting the main gate with a horde of zombies as a distraction.

It was a troublesome situation.

Shikamaru had been sent to the main gate in plans to formulate a strategy that would wipe out the majority if not all of the zombie horde. Thankfully his teammates, Ino and Chouji were there so his plan was nearly created. He only had to arrive there and asses the situation to make adjustments to his plan.

When Shikamaru did arrive there, it was as he suspected. The sheer number of the risen corpses were terrifying.

Shikamaru stepped out onto the battleground, prepared to make his presence known to the rest of the Konoha shinobi…

When a giant salamander erupted from the ground to spew black gas that had the entire area covered in a matter of seconds.

Definitely not something you see every day.

Shikamaru coughed and inwardly cringed at the sharp smell of the gas.

When the gas cleared, imagine his surprise as he—and every other Konoha shinobi—watched as the walking corpses began to cry out and decompose at a rapid rate before their eyes. All the zombies that came in contact with the gas that is.

Shikamaru stared at the salamander.

__Greetings. Sakura-hime sends her regards.__

Shikamaru sighed at the voice in his head and at the stunned/gaping faces of every Konoha shinobi surrounding said owner of the voice.

Troublesome.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Above me, the lightning in the sky had three pillars. I frowned that I was too late to have stopped my target _before_ it was set up, but quickly dismissed it. I was extremely close.

A few more branches until I reached my target. My handseals flew until in preparation to trap him but… he vanished into dust.

I blinked.

"Well that was anticlimactic."

I blinked and looked back at Sasori who stared at the pile of ashes with a frown. He caught my eyes and asked, "What do we do now?"

"I… I guess we should go find… Tsunade and get to work on healing people… not like _we_ have anything better to do for the rest of the night…"

I shrugged helplessly. Sasori's lips twitched into the barest of smirks before he dipped his head.

"Lead the way."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Come morning, I was exhausted. No seriously, I was. I was about to drop dead by the time I had finished healing every damn shinobi on the main battlefield—and do not even get me started on those who ran off and fought on the sidelines!

Just… _damn._

There were just so many people—I never knew Konoha was so populated. I mean, I knew it was a big city but after pretty much sitting in the medic tent and healing one, just to have _nine more_ walk in…

Well. I was about ready to break down and start crying out that they would never end.

But I was blessed. The lead medic took note that I had worked all through the rest of the night and sent me home with orders of rest.

I did not hesitate to do as she ordered.

Now, I'm sure there are some people out there who would rather I say, _I denied her and persisted in staying. These were peoples lives' on the line! I must not leave for who knows who might die if I do? Oh woe!_

Like hell I would do that. I was tired, I was cranky and I wanted to sleep. _You_ try staying up all night and through the first hours of dawn doing nothing but push your mind and body to the limit without fucking rest because there just wasn't time.

Then you can say I should have stayed or argued in staying.

So home I went, and home I slept. Ibuse had left when the all of the zombies were killed. He was covered in filfth so I knew he would need another bath but I decided to worry about that when I woke up.

Because _damn_ I was tired…

As you can probably imagine, I slept through the entire day—missing Sora's departure after Naruto kicked his ass thoroughly and knocked common sense into him. He's off to travel the world and whatnot.

Not that I particularly cared.

Don't look at me like that!

Sometimes people just don't click. I guess Sora and I were an example of that.

Anyway… I slept through the remainder of the day, woke up pretty late at night, ate, took a shower and then played shogi with Sasori for about two hours (he thoroughly kicked my ass and seemed gleeful to rub it in) before going back to bed and sleeping through the night.

Jiraiya would be returning in the morning to train me.

_Huzzah_.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Dear Sakura,

I do not have a summons. I have never found an animal or creature that is compatable with my fighting style. I have also come the conclusion they would only be in the way of my attacks, as harsh as that may sound.

I am pleased you and your summons get along so well.

I suppose you are that person though, after all those are words that one might describe you anyway.

Yours,

Gaara

* * *

_Sora arc is... over! Only two more arcs to go before the Itachi/Duck-Ass arc. Excited?_

_I am so, so, so, so, so sorry for the horrible-ness of this chapter._

_I cringe just looking at it. But I was seriously rushed and super busy this week. I'll try to rewrite it later, but I don't think it'll happen for a while. I just wanted to finish the Sora arc and be done with it._

_Seriously, am I so sorry._

_On the bright side, I just now started Beta-ing another Naruto story. But once again, 'cause I'm so insanely busy this week and weekened I've only been able to edit like, two chapters out of fourteen so far so... boo. _

**_What happened to Inner? _**

_I've been a bit reluctant to answer this question as I don't want to give anything away... but you will find the answer to this question as well as what happened to the old Sakura during the Itachi/Duck-Ass arc. That's all I'm going to say on the matter._

_Kakuzu and Hidan are next. :) They'll actually show up in the next chapter..._

**_Answer: _**_Kisame. I cried so hard. I love you Kisame. Outside of Akatsuki? Jiraiya. That was just... no. I refused to watch the anime and read the chapters once I figured out the spoiler for about a year. Just... no. _Don't even get me started on the latest death.

_**Question: **Favorite Naruto crossover type? Like... DC/Naruto or Harry Potter/Naruto or Our World/Naruto or Timetraveling Naruto... etc. _

_Reviews are **love**._


	40. Dive Suckers Dive!

_"It doesn't matter how old you are. If a balloon is about the hit the floor, you dive for that shit."_

_-Anonymous._

_^So true. Dive suckers. Dive._

_**Warning: **Insanity. I swear I wasn't on crack when I wrote this._

_**Disclaimer: **Kishimoto refuses to give me Naruto, ergo, I don't own Naruto._

* * *

Dear Gaara,

If you could successfully prank three people with whatever prank you could possibly imagine—what would you do and who would be your victims?

For me…

Kyūbi – Fluffy, my other son. I would dye his fur pink and tie a little bow at the top of his head. He would look adorable. And he would match his mommy. ^-^

Kakuzu (you haven't met him yet—he's a miser). Send him a note claiming he's bankrupted.

Neji. Convince him Naruto got Hinata pregnant. I just think his face at that moment would be priceless. No seriously… it would be. In fact I think I should give that one a try… =3

Feeling evil,

Sakura

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"Shisho!" I cried out happily, quickly hugging my favorite Sannin. Jiraiya chuckled good naturedly and returned my hug with a single arm.

"Sakura. Sasori," Jiraiya greeted with a dip of his head. "Where's your son?"

"Hospital," I said with a grin. "He's banged up from his match with Sora—but I have no doubt he and Sai will make a full recovery soon."

"That's good. Are you ready to start your training?" Jiraiya asked, noting how silent Sasori remained.

"Yep!"

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Back in the training grounds, the two of us stood in front of each other. Sasori had drifted off on his own, choosing to stand back and watch our progress.

"I've gathered around a few techniques that might prove interesting to you," Jiraiya said with a small shrug. "Three in fact. Two of them are basic ninjustu and the third one… well. The third one will take quite a bit of time for you."

"Why's that?" I questioned incredulously.

Jiraiya grinned. "We'll be making a jutsu specifically for you."

I gaped then squealed. Squealed like an excited little girl before promptly glomping Jiraiya. "Thankyouthankyouthank you!" Deep breath. "Iloveyousomuch!Thankyouthankyouthankyou!"

Jiraiya wiggled out from my grasp, chuckling with ease. I decided then and there that I liked his chuckles.

It wasn't because I was biased at that moment, I swear.

Don't judge me.

I was practically hopping from one foot to the next. "So what are we going to do first?"

"First, we're going to practice those two techniques I mentioned," Jiraiya said. "It might take a while to get it, but I'm sure you will. Truth be told, I'm not quite sure where to begin with your new technique. But I've managed to snag quite a bit of information on earth and water base techniques. With your knack with both elements, and my creativity, I'm sure we'll come up with something."

I smiled and nodded my head. "So what's the first one."

"Dragon, Tiger, Rabbit," Jiraiya said. "Water base technique, it's called the Water Trumpet. Hold up your hands to your mouth in the fashion of well, holding a trumpet. Transport your chakra to your mouth, change it and, well you get the picture."

I nodded my head, picturing Sasuke and Itachi's great fire ball jutsu, only with water.

"The second one is an Earth base technique. There are no hand signs for it. You are channeling your chakra into the ground, cutting off the area in adjustable position—I recommend square. You are then pushing yourself and the earth up, or down. All ranges for this one."

I gave a firm nod. "Okay!"

"You can begin practicing now. I'll give you a few tips—but only if you've been stuck for a while. Begin!"

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

After a full day of alternating between both jutsus with very little progress, I had to call it a day. Jiraiya bade me goodnight and Sasori and I headed on home.

This was a routine for the next five days.

Naruto was released the third day of our training and began his own training with Kakashi, though Sai still remained in the hospital for another day

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

On the sixth day, Team Asuma—along with a few others—were sent out on a mission. I know this because Ino had informed me very dramatically when I ran into her the following morning.

So on the sixth day I asked Jiraiya for a two day break, which he complied saying he had to leave soon anyway and we come back after I finished mastering the two techniques. I spent the rest of the day chilling with Jiraiya and Sasori at the hotsprings because Jiraiya didn't wanna go anywhere else.

With Jiraiya giggling behind me, I pulled out a map and rolled it out to present it to Sasori.

I circled sixth areas around Konoha, each varying in distance.

"These are sixth bounty retrieving points. Are you familiar with any of them?"

Sasori sat across from me, frowning thoughtfully at my question. He tapped four of them. "I am familiar with those four; Before I was in the Akatsuki and before my body became a puppet I needed a way to earn money for myself. Even while in the Akatsuki, Orochimaru and I still collected a few. There aren't many jobs for S-Ranked Criminals…"

Sasori shook his head. "Regardless, I am only familiar with those four units."

"Do you know one that's kind of like a public bathroom?" I asked. "White building, pretty much middle of nowhere…?"

Sasori raised an eyebrow. "Yes. This one."

He tapped a circled spot with a single, slender finger.

"May I inquire why you are asking this?"

I smiled. "You may. You'll hopefully be getting a couple of guests, should things go according to plan. Or at least one of them."

Sasori thought for a moment. "Kakuzu and Hidan, I take it?"

"Correct," I said. "Though I'm not sure if I should… if I should save Hidan. Kakuzu… he was betrayed horribly by his village and… and is not happy. I like him a lot and have quite a bit of respect for him so I will do everything I can to save him it's just Hidan is…"

I shrugged helplessly. "Hidan has always been a sadomasochist. Even at a young age he took pleasure in other's pain and once he converted to Jashinism…" I sighed. "But I don't know a lot about his past to begin with anyway. Not much is revealed to me through my… dreams. Perhaps he's lonely, perhaps he's insane, or perhaps he really is just as he's made out to be."

I shook my head. "If I do save him, I don't know what I'm going to do with him. I mean I have a general idea on what to do it's just…"

"You're unsure if he's worth it," Sasori guessed.

I nodded, my shoulders sagging. "Is that wrong?"

"No," Sasori said dryly. "From the few encounters I have had with him, I say you are in the right to be unsure if he's worth it."

I raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were going to say everyone needs a second chance."

Sasori raised a thin eyebrow. "That would be very much unlike me."

I grimaced. "Sorry, I guess my conscious is messing with my mind."

Sasori shook his head. "Allow me to ask you this… What good will come of saving his life?"

I paused. And then I thought.

Hidan was—there really was no other way of putting this—a true sadist. He wasn't very bright and was very shallow. He revered in a twisted god and has done horrendous things. He takes slaughtering to a whole new level.

But did that mean I had the right to deny him a second chance? Did that mean I had the right to force him into some damn whole and have him blown to bits?

Flashes of faces ran through my head. _The Third Hokage, all those shinobi's faces lined up with glazed eyes staring back at me. Rain pouring down, hiding my tears._

_ I had killed them all because I had denied them the right to live. Even if it was not hand that made the final blow, my naivety cost them their lives._

The guilt from the past gnawed at me and I quickly pushed it away.

Would Hidan's face be added to their collection?

_But did I have the right to prolong his life?_

A chilling thought. Was I doing something wrong in saving people? It didn't seem like it, but at times I couldn't be too sure. By changing this world—was I messing with fate for all the wrong reasons, in all the wrong ways?

But that was a philosophy I did not have the heart or mind to deal with, so I shoved it aside as well.

More faces flashed through my mind.

"Can I really take the risk?" I asked finally, more to myself than Sasori. "Do I really want to damn someone just because of their past? Should I really…? Do I even have the right…?"

I shook my head and pinched the bridge of my nose. "I… I will save him. If I am wrong then I… I will be sure to deal with the repercussions myself." I let out a soft sigh. "I hope to God I'm not wrong."

I closed my eyes—not seeing Sasori's eyes flicker with emotion before quickly glazing back over.

I was being selfish. Who was I kidding? I wasn't saving Hidan because I really thought he deserved it.

I was saving him because I couldn't face my guilt.

How selfish and pitiful.

How pathetic and stupid.

How self-righteous and arrogant.

_How_ _virtuous and naive. _

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

The next day I watched Naruto train in the morning, sitting on top of Ibuse.

Why was I sitting on top of Ibuse?

Because I felt like showering him with undivided love and attention.

He lapped it up.

I snuggled on top of his head, kissing his smooth skin. "You're amazing, my most epic partner in crime."

__Thank you, Sakura-hime.__

"Momma, why do you keep calling Ibuse your partner in crime?" Naruto asked, taking a break from training to eat lunch. He wanted to skip but I threatened to shove it down his throat and up his ass if he skipped lunch again (he's been skipping it for his training the past few days, _unacceptable_).

"Because he is," I said blandly. Sasori shook his head from behind me.

"But you don't exactly do anything with him except battle," Yamato pointed out.

I gaped. "So? He's still amazing! He's like… he's like my sidekick!"

"So what? Are you a super hero then?" Yamato asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes!" I said hotly.

Naruto frowned. "But Momma, you kill people. I mean, the only person you saved is Gaara and that was a group thing. You can't be a hero and neither can Ibuse..."

I let out a mock gasp of horror. "How could you say such things, Naruto!? Ibuse and I are too heroes!"

"I'm actually going to have to agree with Naruto on this," Kakashi drawled. "Heroes don't kill people. Villains do, so you can be a villain."

"O-Oh yeah?!" I challenged. "I can too save people with Ibuse! Just you watch! I'll be… Oh screw you guys! Come Ibuse, it's clear we aren't appreciated here!"

__Where would you like to go, Sakura-hime?__

I huffed, looking up at the sun. Well… it is about that time anyway….

"That place I mentioned yesterday! Let's go and be epic there!"

__Yes, Sakura-hime.__

Ibuse nosedived into the ground, as I held on to the top of his head and cackle like mad.

Ibuse can too be epic _and_ save people.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

**(Third Person POV – Kakuzu & Hidan)**

If there was one thing Kakuzu learned early, it was to expect the unexpected. Some of which, he felt quietly proud of himself at being able to do just that. Kakuzu was a natural tactician, he saw through nearly every move and planned steps ahead of his opponent.

He was quite good at shogi.

Unlike his partner, Hidan.

Hidan wasn't a complicated man. He just liked killing things in the name of his god. He despised the weak for many reasons, one of them being as it reminded it of his home too much. Something he didn't fucking like at all. But as most people would have you believe, Hidan was a little below average in intelligence.

It was difficult to see any other fucking way when he was surrounded by fucking geniuses and prodigies. He wasn't stupid, he was slower than a billion year old veteran in when it came to strategy in battle. Is it really that fucking difficult to grasp? Even he knew the basics of being a shinobi.

Expect the unexpected.

While he was not as adapt to it as his miser of a partner, he still thought he was pretty good at it. Had to be when he was surrounded with such witty ass whiny bitches—Tobi was a good example. Despite acting like a fucking retard most of the time he still managed to outwit most members of the organization. He always got the last word in.

Point was, Hidan and Kakuzu thought they were prepared.

They were heartless—no pun intended—criminals and had seen many bizarre things.

Many_. Disturbing. _Things_._

Kakuzu had two of the Konoha brats immobilized, while the youngest was too weak on chakra to defend himself.

Hidan had made his final move against the 35 million ryou bounty. A fatal move, the final move.

It would have been a slow death. Ten minutes to twenty… Hidan has even seen someone last a solid thirty five minutes. But that had only been if they didn't receive medical attention. Then they might live. Might being emphasized as no one Hidan and Kakuzu had faced yet lived to tell the tale…

The youngest brat was rushing forward to the rich bounty, his face twisted in shock, fear and sorrow.

A familiar combination.

All was going well so far in both of the Akatsuki members books.

Until _it_ happened.

A giant fucking rupture right below Hidan, completely ruining his circle and sending the Jashin loving priest on his ass.

Hidan was less than pleased at the sharp sting in his tailbone, but quickly ignored at seeing what the fuck was coming out of it.

A giant fucking salamander.

No, seriously.

And there was—get this—a _pink haired girl _laughing hysterically and riding atop its head. Her face was lit up in sheer joy with a twinge of smugness. But it seemed completely contradictory at the situation at hand. Her amusement was… _insane_.

Hidan could only stare in shock as the salamander then promptly _ate_ the bounty.

"Go! Go! Go!" The girl shrieked gleefully, clapping her hands.

The salamander turned around and dove towards Kakuzu and the Konoha shinobi. In less than a second it had already eaten the youngest brat.

Kakuzu had to quickly withdraw his hands in order to prevent _them _from getting eaten by this crazed girl and her pet.

The salamander then ate the final two Konoha shinobi.

"Dive! Dive! Dive!"

The salamander then nosedived into the ground quickly disappearing from sight.

Kakuzu stared.

Hidan stared.

And for once the two normally argumentative (with each other) people came to an agreement on something.

"What the hell?!"

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

**(First Person POV – Sakura)**

I happily road Ibuse back to Konoha, patting his head happily as he quickly dug (swam more like it) through the dirt.

Ibuse popped back up in front of the hospital as I requested. He then promptly began to spew out four unconscious shinobi. At the loud sound of Ibuse popping up from the ground, a nurse came rushing out, only to stare in sheer shock.

I smiled. "They need help."

I pointed to them.

I then promptly patted Ibuse again on the head and off we went back to Naruto and the others to brag about how heroic we were.

Okay, _I_ was going to brag and Ibuse was going to be continuously showered in affection and attention.

Hey, Ibuse deserved it! He's like… kick-ass.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

The following morning I came to visit Asuma at the hospital, only to find—much to my surprise (okay not really)—Ino, Chōji, Shikamaru and Kurenai already there.

"Uh…" I said intelligently as I entered the room. "Want me to come back…?"

"Sakura!" Ino cried out, rushing forward and hugging me tightly. "Thank you! Thank you so much."

I patted her back, uncomfortable with the sudden attention.

"You're welcome…?"

"Sakura," Asuma greeted with an easy smile. I wiggled out of Ino and grinned at him.

"Sup? Kakashi wanted me to drop by on his behalf. Naruto refuses to let him go—he's afraid he'll come back with an excuse not to train him, or not come back at all or something," I said, moving forward. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine, thanks to you," Asuma said.

"There's no need to thank me," I assured. "I only did it because I felt heroic at the time."

"The nurses said you dropped them off here on a salamander," Chōji said. "Was it the same one from the zombie attack…?"

"Ibuse? Yeah," I said with an easy smile. "He's my partner in crime."

Shikamaru decided to speak for the first time. "Troublesome… I can't remember anything after you ate me. It's just a blur."

"Ah, that's from the poison," I said happily. "Don't worry, nothing lethal. Equivalent to a sedative, if you will. I had to use it to…" _...forcibly slow down Asuma's bleeding but you don't need to know that._ "… do shit before on a mission so it was just left over."

Kurenai moved, smiling warmly at me. "Still, I thank you."

I shrugged uneasily. "It was all Ibuse. I just tagged along."

Ino shook her head and hugged me again.

I squirmed out of her arms again and made a move towards the door. "Eto… I should head back to the training grounds… later!"

I then gracefully took my exit, Sasori smirking widely at me. I stuck my tongue out at him.

The door opened and closed behind me as Shikamaru stepped out.

I paused, raising an eyebrow at him.

Shikamaru muttered something under his breath, pointedly looking away from me.

"Can I help you…?"

"Thanks."

I blinked. "It's not a problem…"

I moved to start heading away when he stopped me again.

"How do you do it?"

I blinked at him again, looking at him curiously. "Do what?"

"The corpse specified poisons, the sedatives, how to find us—_when_ to find us. How do you know these things, or how exactly are you able to react so quickly…?"

I chuckled. "I know things. Leave it at that Shikamaru-san."

I paused though. There was a reason why I was hesitant before in saving Asuma. Shikamaru needed to acknowledge the shinobi world in a different light and mature faster. But that was because he was needed for the push on anti-Sasuke and the war. But if I had my way, he wouldn't need to mature so soon. Shikamaru wouldn't have to go through all of that so soon. Too soon, really.

I didn't want him or anyone else I adored to suffer, not when I could help them. And while, yeah, it might be risky and, sure, I couldn't shelter him forever.

It didn't mean I wans't going to try.

I gave Shikamaru a slow, lazy, smile. "Actually... there's something you can do for me... Just think. Think about what could of happened if I hadn't shown up. Learn from it. _Grow_ from it. But don't think too hard on it because I _did_ show up. And I always will, 'kay?"

Shikamaru frowned, wanting to question more but Ino came out and quickly asked him a question.

I took my chance and fled the scenes.

I have officially discovered that I did not like gratifying attention.

Pity. My ego would have flourished with it.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Because Asuma was planning to be hospitalized for at least a week—probably more—Shikamaru recruited Kakashi temporarily on their team to track down the Akatsuki.

Currently, Shikamaru, Kakashi and I sat at a small table in the park, dark clouds looming up ahead. Kakashi and Shikamaru were supposed to be discussing strategy. What was I doing here? Simple; I was going to incorporate _my_ strategy.

"Sakura what are you doing here?" Kakashi finally asked.

I smiled, rummaging through my pocket before pulling out four things.

Two of them were vials, two of them were in the shape of small balls—akin to smoke bombs for us.

Shikamaru stared at them, frowning slightly. "What are they?"

"Special poison," I said mysteriously. "The two balls are vaporized and the two vials are liquidized. They're sedatives with slight lethality to them. But you won't have to worry about that, hopefully."

I pointed to them. "I want you to use them to _capture_ Kakuzu-sama and Hidan-san. The liquids have a cap and when you pull it off is an injection needle. You can simply inject it into one of them or have them drink it. The balls are exactly what they look like—_small_ poison gas bombs. Enough in each to fill about two and a half good sized rooms. But keep in mind it disperses twice as fast."

I rummaged through my other pocket before pulling out six vials. "These are the antidotes. I trust this should be enough. If it's it not then I have severely overestimated you two."

Shikamaru gave a small nod. "Thank you Sakura."

I shrugged. "I would suggest tricking Hidan into drinking one of the poisons—pretending it's blood or whatever. Or if you can get in close just shove it down his throat… either or… Kakuzu… you should be careful. I'd save the gas balls for him. Just a suggestion of course."

I then stood up and stretched. "Anyway… when Naruto perfects his jutsu our team will probably go as your back up. Good luck…"

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Naruto, Sai, Yamato and I arrived on the scene to find a very interesting situation.

Hidan had lost his arm and was leaning heavily against a tree. There were multiple gashes in his body but he hadn't transformed.

Kakuzu was pretty much on the opposite side of the clearing from him, three of his hearts still beating. Fire, Wind and Lightning, all of them surrounded him in a tight circle.

Shikamaru kneeled behind Kakashi, his hands held up in the handseal for his shadow jutsu.

Ino and Chōji flanked his sides.

Naruto and I landed beside Shikamaru. Yamato beside Kakashi and Sai flanking us in the back.

"Yo!" I greeted happily. "How's it going?"

"How do you think?" Shikamaru snorted.

"Hokage-sama gave us the orders that capture is only necessary if we can do it safely," I informed him. "Do you still think we can do it safely?"

"No," Shikamaru said thinly. "That Hidan gave ingested the poison you gave us. He immediately began to attempt to bleed out the poison, in the process lost an arm. But he's still lethal and ready for action to some extent, although his movement are considerably slower. And we haven't even been able to get near that Kakuzu. He's a mid-long fighter, but his taijustu is still beyond expectations."

I gave a nod, pulling out four vials and handing them to Ino, Shikamaru, Chōji and Kakashi. "Inject these. We need to buy two more minutes before Ibuse is ready."

Each one injected a vial.

Naruto grinned. "So we need to distract them for two minutes. Easy enough."

"Don't underestimate them," Kakashi warned Naruto. "Their tag team is impeccable and we haven't been able to separate them."

Ino moved to stand closer to me. "Do we have any plans?"

"I say we go insane and hash and slash," I said with a maniac grin.

Ino swatted me on the shoulder and I chuckled.

"No," Shikamaru said. "I have a better plan."

"What do you have in mind?" Chōji asked.

Shikamaru gave a grim smile. "We need to take down his hearts. Sakura, you're the only water based here, can you take out that fire one? Naruto, focus on the one in the middle, Sai the one to the far right. Yamato and Kakashi…"

Shikamaru then began to give us specific instructions. While he was talking, Kakuzu had moved towards Hidan, picking up his discarded arm with the intent to sew it back on.

By the time Hidan had his arm fixed, a full minute had passed and Shikamaru was done.

So we set the plan into action like the bosses we are.

I grabbed Naruto by the arm and threw him across the clearing. In the same motion, Sai drew a large bird, summoning it swiftly.

I ran after Naruto. I lost sight of the others (as they were behind me and or out of my line of sight), my focus locked on the single heart creature to the far left.

My hands flew through motions.

"Water Style: Water Dragon!"

The dragon erupted from my chakra, diving forward towards the creature. The creature kicked off into the air, hoping to dodge it. My dragon twisted up, following it. The creature made a last second dodge backwards, my dragon forced to miss it and evaporate into the air from the creature's attack.

The creature twisted down to face me and my hands moved again.

My fist slammed into the ground and a solid earth wall placed itself between me and the giant ass fire attack.

I rolled out from my wall, preparing to attack—

__I am ready, Sakura-hime.__

"Do it!" I shouted.

Ibuse erupted from the ground, spewing out a familiar purple cloud of poison that enveloped all of us in a matter of seconds.

When the poison cleared, I looked around to see Hidan kneeling on the ground and shaking. Kakuzu was leaning heavily on his knees, his legs shaking.

I caught Ibuse's eye and gave a slow nod.

Ibuse rushed forward and ate both of them before disappearing with a poof.

Naruto and Sai landed beside me as I headed over to Shikamaru and the others. "Anyone need a healing?"

"I wouldn't mind some food," Chouji said with a smile.

Ino rolled her eyes.

Shikamaru glanced at me. "Where did Ibuse take them?"

"His stomach," I deadpanned. "Same place you went to."

"What poison was that?" Kakashi asked.

"Sasori's in all its gaseous glory," I said with a smile and a peek towards said puppet master. Sasori gave a small one in return.

"Well," Yamato said. "I guess that's two less Akatsuki members to worry about."

"Huzzah!" I cheered. "I say we should all go out for icecream as a treat."

"Icecream sounds good right now," Ino said happily, smiling and latching her arm through mine.

"I could go for something sweet," Chouji said.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered.

Naruto snickered and latched his arm through my other arm. "Alright! It's all on Kakashi!"

"Alr—wait—_what_?"

"Sounds like a plan, right, Kakashi-senpai?"

"No it does not!"

"Thank you Kakashi, I've read a friend only offers such generosity if they really like the other friends."

"I assure you then I do not like you enough to pay for all of your icecreams."

"Thank you Kakashi!"

"No, damn it Sakura. Quit encouraging them."

"Thank you~"

"No, no… Naruto give me back my wallet…!"

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Dear Sakura,

I have never really done anything like pranking. I'm not very creative.

I… wouldn't mind seeing the Kyūbi like that. If you ever do it, be sure to take a picture.

You are correct in saying I have never met or heard of this Kakuzu.

Naruto would be most displeased with you. But it would be amusing to some extent.

I suppose I have people who I wouldn't _mind_ if they were pranked. But I do not know of how I would ever do such a thing.

Kankuro

Temari

Sasuke

Yours,

Gaara

* * *

_Oh-Meh-Gawsh. Character development... oh so tiny. _

_We're getting closer to my favorite chapter. Kakuzu and Hidan are now in the Spirit Prison with Sasori. :o_

_I swear I wasn't on crack when I wrote this. I swear. I swear. I swear. But it was a lot of fun to write that one scene... I could just picture their faces... Priceless..._

_I actually considered making this a cliff-hanger then claiming I was going on a month long vacation but I'm not _that _cruel._

_.v. I tease. I wouldn't do that to you guys if I could help it. You guys are too amazing._

_My beta-ing is so slow. D: When I get caught up all the chapters I need to edit then I'll tell you guys what story I'm editting. Until then, guess (if you want)._

**_Answer: _**_HP/Naruto... I know. I know. So overdone and cliche but there are some _really _good ones. I also like LotR/Naruto sometimes... And Inuyasha/Naruto... I'm not too picky about my x-overs._

**_Question: _**_If you could have one super power (not a super power that lets you have all the super powers in the entire multiverse/universe), what would it be? I know. So original._

_Reviews are **love**._


	41. One, Two, Three Little Ghosts

_"How Normal People Flirt: Hello there, you're pretty..._

_How I Flirt: Hey there... your face... I like that shit."_

_**Warning: **Eh. Violence and Hidan. _

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own Akatsuki which is, really, the saddest thing of them all._

* * *

Dear Gaara,

I. Love. Sweets.

No seriously, I do.

They so yummy yummy in my tummy tummy.

:3 If you could ask _any _three people a single question, who would you ask and what would you ask?

Itachi - What's it like being partners with the most amazing person in the world?

Sage of Sixth Paths – How the hell did he get so outrageously powerful and all-knowing in a primitive time period?

Tsunade – Is she in love with my Shisho?

Feeling question-y (yes, that's a word now),

Sakura

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

The following morning, I found myself sitting across the table and staring at Kakuzu and Hidan who had suddenly appeared. Sasori moved to stand behind me, placing an unfeeling hand on my shoulder, to draw my attention to them(I was previously in the middle of reading another medical scroll).

I raised an eyebrow at them.

"What the fuck? It's _you_!" Hidan shouted, pointing an accusing finger at me. "You're that insane bitch on the salamander."

I grinned, pleased they remembered. "'Sup Hidan? Hello Kakuzu-san!"

Kakuzu stared down at me impassively. "Where are we?"

"Physically or…?"

Hidan bared his teeth. "What the fuck do you think crazy dick?"

I looked up at Sasori. "You wanna explain it or shall I?"

Kakuzu's eyes followed mine and his eyes narrowed considerably. "Sasori. The Akatsuki thought you were dead. What is the meaning of this?"

"She captured me, just like she has captured you two," Sasori replied smoothly. "Our physical bodies are currently being held prisoner while our spiritual bodies are here with her. Hidan, because I know you are terribly confused I shall explain it better—we have become her ghosts."

"Ghosts?" Hidan snorted. "I'm not dead. I can't die."

"No," Sasori agreed. "But for lack of a better term, we are ghosts. Only she and Jiraiya can see and hear us. We cannot touch anything physical but we can feel them. _Ghost_ is the best term to describe it."

I grinned. "Yep! You guys either follow me around like Sasori or hang out here. I can leave the T.V. on for you if you want to stay here."

"Follow you around?" Kakuzu questioned.

"We are anchored by her and this house," Sasori clarified. "I'm sure you can already feel it—the pull towards her. It is much more subtle in the house but when you leave it becomes stronger. This is because she is our link to our bodies."

"So what the fuck are you going to do with us?" Hidan demanded. "Gonna sell us short to your pussy of interrogators?"

I frowned. "I have no intentions of doing such things unless you want me to. You guys can just relax and I guess… I don't know, take a vacation."

"Jashin-sama will be expecting my sacrifices," Hidan snapped. "Release me at once, wench!"

I smiled. "Jashin-sama only expects sacrifices so long as your body is able. Your body is clearly not able to therefore Jashin-sama won't be expecting any sacrifices. Nice try though."

"Why are you not handing us over?" Kakuzu asked, a wary tone in his voice.

"Because I don't want to," I replied simply. "I mean if you _really_ want to I can but…"

"No, it just doesn't make sense," Kakuzu said. "We are strangers and enemies. Who paid you for this?"

"No one paid me," I assured him with a smile. "As for why I'm really doing this… meh. You'll figure it out. Anyway, if you have any questions I'm sure Sasori wouldn't mind answering if I am unable to. I can't exactly talk to you guys out in public."

"So," I continued. "I need to head out and find my son—_adopted_ son, Hidan—and whatnot. Who wants to come and who wants to go?"

"I'm staying here," Hidan muttered. "Turn on the fucking T.V."

I raised my eyebrow but did as requested, turning it to a station he suggested and leaving it be. Hidan snorted and sat back on the couch, lounging lazily.

I turned to find Kakuzu and Sasori by the front door.

"Awesome," I cheered. "Ready to go epic people?"

"Sakura," Sasori sighed. "You're too cheerful in the morning."

I patted his head. "You're a pessimist so naturally I have to be an optimist."

I then promptly opened up my front door and shut it behind me, locking it tightly. I turned back towards the street, only to find Kurenai standing in front of me with a small smile.

"Kurenai-sensei," I greeted. "How are you today?"

"I am fine," Kurenai said with a delicate smile. "I only wanted to stop by and thank you again."

I flushed. "Really no need to thank me."

Kurenai only smiled.

"Who's this?" Kakuzu asked.

"This is Kurenai, Asuma's girlfriend," Sasori answered. "Sakura has informed me that is pregnant with his child, though he doesn't know yet and neither does she."

"If she doesn't know then how can the girl know?" Kakuzu frowned, clearly skeptical of the claim.

"I wanted to tell you that should you ever need anything, please don't hesitate to ask," Kurenai said gently.

My cheeks warmed under her gentle gaze and I gave a sheepish nod. "Okay. Thanks…"

Kurenai gave another nod before she walked away.

Sasori was giving Kakuzu an incredibly smug smirk. "That is something you'll have to figure out on your own."

Kakuzu's eyes narrowed but he didn't reply.

I shook my head in amusement.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

I entered Ichiraku, already to find Naruto and Sai there. I grinned down at them before taking my seat next to Naruto.

"Hi Momma!" Naruto greeted.

"Bitch," Sai said with a smile.

Ah, yes. Bitch. The nickname Sai had given me. I thought it was pretty damn hilarious though Naruto didn't look too pleased. Besides, it was better than Ugly.

"Son, Sai," I greeted. "Did you already order for me?"

"Yep! Your usual," Naruto answered.

I glanced down at his right hand, eyeing his cast.

Ayame set down our bowls with a big smile.

"She's friends with the jinchūriki ?" Kakuzu asked Sasori.

"She's friends with quite a few people," Sasori replied dismissively.

"Thanks Ayame-chan!" I said happily, breaking my chopsticks before breaking Naruto's chopsticks as well.

"Always happy to be of service, Sakura-chan," Ayame giggled.

"Ahh it's hard to eat with my left hand," Naruto grumbled.

"That's what you get for training too hard," I lightly scolded him.

Naruto grumbled. "But I needed to test out my new move! How was I supposed to know about the after effects without trying it?"

I smiled. "I guess that's true. Want me to feed you? It'll be just like our trip to Otonki Village."

Naruto grimaced, remembering that particular memory. "Yes please, thank you Momma."

I patted his head and grabbed his chopsticks.

"Is this what friends are supposed to do?" Sai asked, watching us like a scientist would a particulary interesting subject.

"Yes," I informed him, grabbing some noodles and shoving them in Naruto's mouth. He happily ate them.

I then grabbed some of my own noodles and ate my own food.

"Ah!" Sai exclaimed—or as much as Sai would ever exclaim. "You use the same chopsticks… I've read that's an indirect kiss."

"It doesn't count," Naruto said.

I shook my head. "We're family."

Naruto nodded his head. "'Sides, that stuff doesn't matter to Momma."

I repeated the process of feeding Naruto, when Kakashi walked in.

"Yo," Kakashi said.

"The Copy-nin," Kakuzu muttered incredulously.

"He is her sensei," Sasori said, answering Kakuzu's unasked question.

"Hey you two," came a very familiar voice as Jiraiya entered the stand as well.

"Jiraiya too?" Kakuzu blinked.

At his name, Jiraiya's eyes flickered towards Kakuzu.

"Shisho!" I greeted happily, shoving more food into Naruto's mouth.

"Sakura, Naruto, good to see you again," Jiraiya said. "Sakura, I was looking for you. Mind taking a walk with me?"

"Sure," I said happily. "Lemme finish up here."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"So you're Kakuzu," Jiraiya observed. The four of us sat on an empty roof in Konoha. Well, Sasori, Jiraiya and I sat. Kakuzu decided to lean against a wall, looking down at us. He actually looked pretty cool like that. Not that I would ever say that outloud because Kisame is the only one I'll idolize verbally.

"That's right. You're Jiraiya, one of the Sannin," Kakuzu said. "There's quite a bounty on your head."

"Well, I _am_ pretty amazing," Jiraiya chuckled. "I must say I'm impressed how accurate you were, Sakura."

I shrugged. "That tends to happen when the only thing you dream about is the replaying of the _entire_ timeline."

"Still," Jiraiya said.

"So I take it then the three tails will be next?" Sasori asked.

I gave a nod. "Most likely."

"What are you talking about?" Kakuzu asked.

"You'll see," I said dismissively.

Jiraiya cracked a grin. "Well, I just wanted to check your progress. I need to snag Naruto for a brief conversation. Be safe."

"Always," I promised.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

The next day, Naruto and Kakashi had set out on two separate missions. Naruto to study under Jiraiya and recover, Kakashi to lead Hinata's team on recon for Orocihmaru's hideout.

Today I was asked (ordered) by Tsunade to work at the hospital.

All day.

All night.

Twenty four hours.

Fucking straight.

Oh don't get me wrong though, I had breaks. I had meals and I had piss breaks but _still_. Sometimes it really was a hassle being the only poison mistress in Konoha and one of the few varied medics who could actually do a decent job.

I couldn't do brain surgery… but you get what I'm saying.

Sasori and Kakuzu tagged along with me. Sasori pointing out mild mistakes and rubbing them in my face before explaining how to improve. Kakuzu mostly kept quiet but he did offer a couple suggestions on a few patients.

Although the suggestions were for me to just knock them out and turn them into the nearest bounty exchange point, they were suggestions nonetheless.

It was the thought that counts, really.

Hidan stayed at home, watching T.V. and whatnot. I guess I was glad for his absence, I don't think I would have been able to handle twenty four hours of medical usage toppled with his potty mouth. But he only stayed home because there was an all series marathon for his favorite show or whatever (go figure).

Not that I minded…

The next day I was given a vacation.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"Hell no! We are watching _Bloody Chain Massacre_!" Hidan screeched, pointing at one of the many movies I had laid out.

"Shut up, you moron," Kakuzu growled. "We are not going to watch some pointless shit just because you don't know a damn thing about literature. We're watching _The Godfather_."

Sasori and I sat on the couch, watching as the two argued back and forth.

This had been going on for about ten minutes. And while it was amusing at first, we both had reached our limit to the annoyance.

"We can watch both," I finally said exasperated. "We have all day today to do it. We'll watch the gory movie first, then _Godfather_ then Sasori can pick a movie then I will."

Hidan and Kakuzu snorted quietly.

I shook my head. "My Kami/Jashin/Pein/God." I glanced over to Sasori. "Have they always been like this?"

"Yes," Sasori said flatly.

Kakuzu snorted again. "You're one to talk, puppet. You and Deidara are just as bad."

"Don't be ridiculous. Our arguments are completely one-sided—I always win."

Hidan huffed. "Oh who gives a shit? Insane-Bitch, go put the damn movie in!"

I rolled my eyes while Kakuzu muttered, "Look at the kettle calling the pan black…"

Sasori gave a wry grin.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

On the third day, Sai, Yamato and I (along with Hidan, Kakuzu and Sasori) stood at the front gates and waited for Naruto to catch up with Kakashi on our next mission.

"This better not be a fucking boring ass mission," Hidan threatened.

"Sakura's missions have a way of escalating into something more," Sasori said. "This mission is only supposed to be recon but I can guarantee it will escalate into something more."

Hidan muttered under his breath.

"Shut up, Hidan," growled Kakuzu. "Or I _will_ kill you."

"Late?" I murmured, completely ignoring the Akatsuki. "How uncharacteristic."

"Maybe he's doing some last minute training?" Yamato suggested.

"Who knows, who knows…"

"He better not make us wait any longer," Sasori muttered.

"Or what?" Hidan sneered. "You'll kill him?"

"No, but Sakura would in my place."

I glanced over my shoulder, throwing Sasori a smile and wink.

Sasori shot Hidan a smug look.

"Perhaps," I said sweetly. "I should go grab him. Ja ne!"

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"Naruto!" I sung gleefully, kicking off into the air. Naruto and his two toad summons were by a small stream, Naruto soaking wet. High up in the air, Naruto looked up and was forced to squint at my silhouette against the sun.

My legs were brought down and I landed with a loud crash on Naruto, standing atop his lying form.

I patted him with the bottom of my shoes. "Naruto, you know I hate to be kept waiting. Remember what happened to Shisho?"

"Sorry, Momma," Naruto said, muffled by the fact his face was in the ground.

I smiled brightly and stepped off him. "Hi Gamakichi, Gamatatsu. I need to steal Naruto for a mission, so later!"

Grabbing Naruto by the collar I promptly began to drag him away. I ignored the snickering Hidan, smug Sasori and indifferent Kakuzu.

"Bye-bye Sakura-chan!" Gamatatsu and Gamakichi exclaimed.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

After a couple hours of walking (tree hopping, really), Yamato lead us to the edge of a cliff, overlooking a vast forest. He glanced around the area.

"If things are going as planned, then they should've left some sign behind," Yamato said, still surveying the area.

"It doesn't look like there's any signs," I observed, my eyes wandering.

"Did they forget?"

"They probably got their asses handed to them," Hidan sneered.

"Maybe, maybe not," I answered Naruto.

"Sai," Yamato said.

"Yes?"

"Do some reconnaissance from the sky, would you?" Yamato asked.

Sai gave a nod, unrolling his scroll and summoning a bird before taking off quickly.

"Ah… wait here for a sec, be right back," Naruto said, hurrying off to attempt to train.

I shook my head, smiling. This would be Naruto's first encounter withYūkimaru

Shortly afterwards, Sai returned with information and we went off to fetch Naruto. After grabbing him, we headed off to find the rest of the team.

Half way into the forest, we came across the crystal dome, cutting us off from entering.

"What the hell is that?" Hidan and Naruto asked in perfect synch.

"Kekkai genkai… crystal," Kakuzu said, a tint of annoyance in his voice. "I had thought for sure that clan was dead. I was sure I killed the last one… I guess not."

Yamato glanced over it. "Sai."

"Understood," Sai said, summoning up his beast and taking an aerial view. He landed, reporting it back to Yamato it was indeed a dome.

"Just as I thought," Yamato muttered.

"Let's break it down then!"

"Just a moment, Naruto," Yamato said. "It looks like some sort of barrier, so we have to make sure it's not rigged."

Stepping forward, Yamato turned his index finger into wood before giving the clearance.

"Can't we just get inside the same way when we snuck into Orochimaru's hideout?" Naruto asked.

"I'm sorry, but it seems the crystal's structure is well secured, all the way down to the molecular level. Unlike the clay wall, this doesn't seem to have any weak spots. Even the ground itself is covered by crystal. There aren't any weak spots."

"Why does he have a wooden kekkai genkai?" Kakuzu asked. "Only the First Hokage had that."

"He's a lab rat from Orochimaru," Sasori explained dismissively.

"Poor fucker," Hidan snickered.

"Focused attacks won't work—the surface is too wide and will spread the energy," I mused. "We'll need an attack that is both wide and powerful."

Naruto grinned, biting his thumb before summoning Gamatatsu and Gamatachi.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"Preparations complete," Gamatatsu said with a mouthful of chakra pumped water.

"Alright! Just like we trained for," Naruto exclaimed.

"What the fuck are they doing?" Hidan asked incredulously.

I didn't answer, contently watching them from my spot in a tree.

"Water Release: Toad Cannon!"

Sharp, fast, and powerful water spewed from Gamatatsu's mouth with the boost of Naruto's chakra. It slammed against the crystal dome, spreading out quickly and showering the entire area.

The dome shattered, and we rushed in.

In a matter of seconds, we had found Kakashi's team. Kakashi, Kiba, Akamaru and Shino were in a defensive position. Staring down at Guren and—MY HINATA WAS TRAPPED IN A CRYSTAL!

Gah! The horror! My poor Hina-chan!

I knew it was going to happen and she'd be fine but still…! The horror! It's one thing to know what's going to happen and a whole other to _see _it happening.

"Back up?" Guren sneered.

"Hinata!" I said fearfully, ignoring Kakashi and Naruto's quick conversation.

"Who's the hot chick?" Hidan asked with a leer.

"Don't even think about it," Sasori deadpanned. "Sakura would castrate you—and don't think she couldn't. She could and she would."

That was when Naruto noticed Hinata as well.

"Hinata!" Naruto exclaimed, before he turned to glower at Guren. "You bitch! What did you do to Hina-chan?!"

She chuckled.

"She's been taken hostage, don't act recklessly," Kakashi stressed. "The crystal's so fragile that even the slightest bump will cause it to shatter with Hinata still inside."

"What a pinch," Kiba muttered.

Yamato took a step forward.

"Don't move," Guren hissed.

"Now! Gamatatsu! Water Style—"

"Don't, Naruto!"

"—Toad Cannon!"

Water erupted from Gamatatsu, though a lot weaker than before at Guren. Guren raised her hand and the entire attack turned to pink crystal.

"My crystal element can crystallize all substances," She drawled. The attack then began to bend to her will, turning into a sort of snake dragon. "You're about ten years too early to oppose me."

The crystal dragon then lunged to attack us, forcing all of us to lunge backwards. The crystal dragon flew back to Guren, just as she jumped atop its head. Yamato and Kakashi entered the clearing, planning to distract her.

"How naive!" Guren shouted, rushing forward on the dragon.

Just as Sai swooped down, throwing shuriken. She quickly turned around, crystalizing them while dispersing his inked bird.

In the same motion, Gamatatsu swallowed Hinata just as Ibuse swallowed the others. Before Guren could react, he poofed away and all of us took our chance to escape.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

A ways from where we last saw that woman, all of us gathered. At Naruto's orders, Gamatatsu spewed Hinata out—and cracked her.

"What the hell?!" I screeched, rushing over to Hinata.

"You retard!" Gamatachi growled.

"Shit, was I too late?" questioned a familiar voice.

All of our gazes snapped towards an out of breath Pakkun.

"Pakkun?" Kakashi echoed in disbelief.

Pakkun gave a small dip of his head before sitting down. "They've completed the analysis of Shino's kikaichuu. The enemy is definitely using crystal element jutsu. It is also confirmed that the kikaichuu was encased by the crystal."

"So it really is true that the jutsu can crystallize anything," Kakashi concluded.

"The real hassle is its potency," Pakkun said.

"So the kikaichuu…" Shino trailed off.

"Aa. It seems the bodily fluids in the kikaichuu was crystallized as well," Pakkun answered.

"Then what about Hinata?" Naruto demanded. "Hina-chan's safe now, right Kakashi-sensei?"

"Aa."

"We should bring her back to the village immediately," Yamato said.

"That's right," Naruto said eagerly. "Tsuande-bāchan, she should be able to do something, right?"

"Foolish boy," Kakuzu muttered. "Only the jutsu user can undo the crystallization. There is no cure."

"Calm down, Naruto," Kakashi said calmly.

Just as the words left Kakashi's mouth, Hinata began to crack more.

Whirling around, Naruto's eyes widened in horror. "Hinata!"

The crystal broke and shattered, leaving a still alive Hinata in its place.

I immediately rested my hand against her forehead, checking her vitals. "She's fine."

"Thank goodness," Naruto sighed with relief.

"Wow… I was really scared," Gamatatsu sighed.

"You're the retard who dropped her in the first place," snapped Gamatachi.

"Heh," Kakashi chuckled before noticing Shino. "What's wrong, Shino?"

"I was thinking about my bugs," Shino explained. "The bugs that were caught in the jutsu shattered in my hands. Though, somehow, Hinata was saved."

"It's true that during our previous observations, we realized everything that was crystallized could be shattered. I wonder if Hinata and the surviving bugs had something in common."

"Ano," Hinata muttered, struggling to sit up. My arms wrapped around her and I lifted her partially into my lap, into a sitting position. Everyone's eyes swung towards us. "I… when I was caught in that jutsu, I released chakra from the tenketsu on a whim, and used it to shield the surface of my body."

"I see," Kakashi said. "So that means her crystal element can't crystallize chakra. You did very well with your quick thinking, Hinata."

Hinata gave a small smile and I cooed at her, hugging her tightly.

"Just what I'd expect," Kiba crowd.

"That's my Hinata," I cooed.

"S-Sakura-chan. It's good to see you again," Hinata said quietly.

"I'm glad that you're safe," Naruto said with a smile.

"Sorry, Naruto-kun. I made you worry," Hinata said with a small crease in her brow.

"Eh? Why's she so fuckin' quiet?" Hidan snorted. "It's fuckin' annoyin'."

"Shut up, Hidan," Kakuzu growled.

"There's no need to apologize, Hinata-chan," Naruto assured her.

"O-Okay, Naruto-kun," Hinata murmured, a blush brushing across her cheeks.

Yamato smiled at the scene before turning to Kakashi. "Kakashi-sempai, what are we to do now?"

"Mn. Well… let's see," Kakashi said, glancing over at Hinata.

Hinata caught his gaze and gave a reassuring nod. "Don't worry about me."

"Despite being caught in the jutsu, Hinata managed well…" Shino commented.

Kakashi glanced over at the bug user. "We have no method of countering her abilities for the moment. For now, the best thing would be to retreat."

"But that means we'd be letting those bastards run away," Naruto argued.

"Aa. If we take our eyes off of them now, they might slip up," Kakashi rebutted.

Kiba stood up, brushing off dirt from his legs. "We went through nothing but trouble trying to find them. If we let them get away now, I'm not sure we'd be able to find them again."

"Then here's what we'll do," Kakashi decided. "In terms of numerical strength, we'll split up into two teams. Sai and Sakura will be on standby here, waiting for Hinata to recover."

"Wait—what the hell?" I exclaimed.

"Sakura," Kakashi amended. "You're our only medic. We need you to stay here and keep safe and watch over Hinata."

I suppressed the desire to pout, opting instead to bargain. "Can I hug Hinata-chan a lot while we're here?"

"Yes Sakura, you can hug Hinata as much as you want."

I smiled happily and hugged Hinata closer, she giggled quietly.

"As I was saying… the others will form a pursuit team. It's possible the enemy erased their scent while feeling. Even for Akamaru, it may be impossible to pursue them."

"Then how are we supposed to find them?" Naruto asked skeptically.

"We'll make use of their observation bats. However… if we get too close to the bats, they'll be the ones finding us. That's why we'll have to move surreptitiously."

"Pain in the ass, but I guess there's no choice."

"That's not all," Kakashi said. "We also need Naruto's ability to break through the crystal. If we find those guys, don't attempt to do anything. Our prime objective is to uncover their plans."

"Right!"

"Well then, I guess we'll head home," Gamatachi said.

"Yeah, I'll be counting on you again," Naruto said with a smile.

"I guess I'll return too, Kakashi."

"Well then, Pakkun. Thanks for your help."

All three summons disappeared with a poof.

"Well, I guess we'll head out as well," Kakashi said, and all of them cleared out.

I patted Hinata's head, my hands flickering green as I healed away her fatigue.

"This is boring," Hidan drawled not even a minute afterwards.

Kakuzu gave an annoyed sigh and Sasori ignored both of them.

I pulled back my hands and gave a grin. "Alright! Let's go follow after them."

"B-But Sakura-chan, Kakashi-sensei told us to wait here," Hinata said worryingly.

"But it's boring," I mimicked Hidan. "Let's go!"

Sai tilted his head. "I suppose we should follow behind them—they will need back up, most likely."

"O-Okay…" Hinata whispered.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"Bitch-kick~" I sung, slamming my foot against a blurred figure as Hinata called out to warn the rest of the group. To my other side, Sai quickly disposed of two more of them, and Hinata took care of the last one.

The four of us landed below, me grinning happily.

The hostiles quickly disappeared back into the smoke screen.

"Sakura, Sai, thanks a lot," Kakashi said, relieved.

"Hinata saw through the smoke with her Byakugan and pointed us in the right direction," I explained at Kakashi's questioning gaze.

"Aa."

Away from us, a loud, deafening roar sounded all the while giving off pressurized chakra.

"What's that?" Kakashi murmured.

"Kakashi-sempai…" Yamato warned.

The smoke cleared, revealing a massive tidal wave rushing towards us from the lake.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Dear Sakura,

I know you like sweets. I still remember when we ran in to each other on our mission. The dumplings shop… between you and Temari, you must have bought enough sweets for the owner of the business to go into retirement.

I suppose…

Naruto, how was he able to make friends despite his past?

Another jinchūriki , is it the same for them, as it is for Naruto and me?

I cannot think of another question so I'm going to steal one of yours… How _did_ the Sage of Sixths Paths do what he did?

Yours,

Gaara

* * *

_Lemme just make something clear before I carry on with the A/N._

_Ibuse **cannot** just go around eating people to get them to the Spirit Prison. They need to be immobolized enough that they won't burst out of his gut and kill him. Or, worse, burst out of his gut, killing him then wreacking havoc in his home before he could transport them to the Spirit Prison. D:_

_I don't think Doku would appreciate that very much._

_Or Sakura. She'd lose her partner in crime._

_Hummm..._

**_Answer: _**_This one has already been said, but my superpower would be to fall into any world I chose and be able to manipulate myself and my surroundings in whatever way I please. World meaning book, anime, manga, etc._

**_Question: _**_What is the funniest thing you have ever read/seen/done? _


	42. Sanbi Needs to be Nerfed

_"Uchiha Itachi doesn't breathe, he holds air hostage._

Uchiha Itachi doesn't actually write haiku, the words assemble themselves out of fear.

Uchiha Itachi does not sleep, he waits.

Uchiha Itachi can divide by zero.

Uchiha Itachi crossed a road. No one dared question his motives."

_-Courtesy of _Searching. For. Enadi

_**Warning: **Eh. Violence and Hidan. _

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own Akatsuki which is, really, the saddest thing of them all._

* * *

Dear Gaara,

If you could have _any_ kekkai genkai in the world, what would it be?

I think I would have the Rinnegan. I'd be so awesome they'd name me 'Sakura the Six Paths of sheer Epicness'.

Yes, I can see it now.

Your narcissist,

Sakura

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

I glanced around the swamped area, jumping down from my high spot in the trees and landing beside the gathering group. I scanned the area, a little amazed to see how much damage just one wave had done. Just imagine... we'd soon be facing the _cause _of that wave.

During my musings, Kakashi had given the order to find Naruto. Kiba quickly caught his scent and began leading us around the lake where we quickly fell into a mist.

I fell behind them, only catching up when I heard Naruto's voice.

I landed beside Naruto and grinned. "Sup boy?"

"Sup Mom?" Naruto returned.

"What the fuck was up with that tidal wave?" Hidan finally asked.

The Akatsuki had been quiet since the wave, Sasori was normally quiet so I was used to that, and Kakuzu wasn't much of a talker and I guess the wave had just managed to catch Hidan off guard.

We ignored him, glancing over at Shino who had stepped forward. "It seems we have a problem."

"What is it?" Kakashi asked. Shino lifted his hand up, opening it to present the palm of his hand and show his bugs moving around in an erratic manner.

"They started moving strangely just now," Shino explained. "Their sense of direction has been tampered with. They can't be used for reconnaissance like this."

"It seems to be caused by the mist," Yamato murmured.

"Naruto had just had a hallucination—genjutsu. It looks as though this isn't just your typical mist," Kakashi said. "Naruto, what happened at the lake?"

Naruto paused. "Some huge turtle appeared, and it fought those guys we met earlier."

"Huh? A turtle?" Kiba asked skeptically. "Are you seriously saying a _turtle_ was the source of that huge mass of chakra?

"A turtle," Kakuzu muttered, his eyes narrowing. "Immense chakra, suspicious mist and a giant turtle. This sounds suspiciously like…"

"That it does," Sasori said, a smug smirk on his face.

"Shut up! I can't help it! It's the truth," Naruto grumbled. "Anyway, the turtle was what caused that huge wave just now. Also, Gamakichi said that it was the Sanbi."

"I'll be damned," Kakuzu mused. "An interesting development. The three tailed beast."

"You weren't kidding when you said her missions fucked up," Hidan crowd. "To think the Akatsuki couldn't even find the damned thing and _you_ guys just happen to stumble upon it."

"Oh the irony," Sasori said dryly.

"I didn't see the number of tails though," Naruto said after the long silence.

"We finally know what they're aiming for at least, but it was far from what we expected. Either way, our current priority is escaping this mist. Then we'll sort out our information and plan our next move."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

After escaping the mist, Kakashi sent Sai and Hinata to examine the mist. When they returned, Hinata confirmed their suspicions saying the mist was embedded with violent chakra as well as the entire lake. With this new information, Kakashi sent it back to Konoha and we awaited new orders.

It was late in the night, pretty sure already past midnight, when our reinforcements arrived. Ino, Lee, Tenten and Shizune.

"… Now then, I'll be briefing everyone on Tsunade-sama's current plans," Shizune said after a brief discussion with Kakashi and Yamato. "The search and support mission to Orochimaru's hideout is now dismissed. Sakura, Hinata and Ino. All of you are now under my command."

"Understood," Hinata, Ino and I echoed.

"The rest will fall under Kakashi-san's orders," Shizune finished.

Kakashi gave a small dip of his head. "Tsunade-sama's new orders are to seal the Sanbi, and to protect the child who is somehow connected to the bijū."

At this, my eyes flickered over to Naruto. The child was whom Naruto seemed to have had random encounters with throughout this entire mission and only just recently discovered the connection with the bijū and that Orochimaru's team were using him.

Wow that's a run on statement.

Naruto grinned happily at that order.

"Not only are the Akatsuki going after the bijū, but if a bijū appears without a jinchuriki…"

"That kid was brought here to become a jinchūriki, isn't that right, Naruto?" Sai asked.

At his question, Kakuzu snorted softly.

Naruto gave a small nod. "We have to seal the Sanbi and protect that kid so we can prevent a repeat of what happened to me and Gaara. Right, Shizune-oneechan?"

"Right. Capturing the Sanbi isn't our goal. We'll seal it to a place where it can never be found by anyone. That is our Hokage's will."

"But wait, bijū are just giant masses of chakra, right?" Kiba asked. "Sealing it doesn't sound like an easy thing to do."

"Sealing a bijū requires precise chakra control and concentration," Shizun agreed. "Sakura and Ino are learning medical ninjutsu, that experience will be useful to us. As for Hinata…"

"Ano... I don't have any experience in medical ninjutsu," Hinata said softly.

"What's important is your accuracy to control chakra, even without knowing medical ninjutsu," Shizune said. "Your experience with the Jyūken on top of your Byakugan will be very useful for chakra detection. You'll be just fine."

"Hinata, you're awesome, don't worry about it," Naruto said confidently.

Hinata blushed lightly.

I lightly hip bumped her and smiled encouragingly.

"The rest of the members will support me and Yamato," Kakashi said. "The enemy will most likely try to prevent us from sealing the Sanbi. They'll definitely confront us if that's the case."

"Then what about the grouping?" Tenten asked.

"Mn… I may have a plan."

"Well don't leave us in the dark," Naruto exclaimed after Kakashi had fallen silent for a while.

"For this battle, the most important thing is to stop that Crystal Element user. However if everyone does that we can't protect the sealing squad. So I decided to make one squad focused on engaging the Crystal Element user. Naruto, Sai and Shino. You three will be with me to help take care of that Crystal Element user. As for the rest of you… Yamato, they're in your care."

"Understood," Yamato said. "The rest of you, follow me."

The girls—minus Tenten—moved to stand before Shizune. Hidan grinned lecherously while Kakuzu and Sasori followed behind us silently.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Come morning, all of us moved out. Each of us wore our radio sets. Shizune led the team to a small clearing at the shore of the lake. Carefully she unfolded a large green scroll, presenting it to us.

"This is called the Four-Corner Sealing Barrier. First, we will search for the Sanbi and then continue with the sealing process. I've already shown you the handseals, so let's begin."

Each of us pulled out a small scroll and partially unrolled on each side of the larger scroll. Shizune performed the handseals and bit into her thumb, drawing blood. The three of us mimicked the action, wiping our bloodied thumb across our scrolls then holding up a single handsign.

The scrolls reacted, detailed curved lines connecting each of us together to form a sort of kite like shape. The main scroll slowly glowed a pale green, a strange preening noise escaping it.

"I've never seen this type of sealing," Sasori commented.

"It is an older style of sealing," Kakuzu said.

"They're going to fail," Hidan chuckled with a grin.

"Shut up," Sasori and Kakuzu said, annoyance clear in both their tones.

"Alright," Shizune said. "Just like this, let's begin the jutsu."

I felt a wave of chakra leave me as the scroll sucked it in under Shizune's guidance. My eyes flickered wide as the center scroll's writing slowly lifted off the page as if it were a blanket over an invisible head.

Carefully, our hands lifted with it and we moved to stand up in synch. The seal formed above us, intricate colors wrapping around the seal markings in the air and glowing brightly.

"Okay, that should do it for now," Shizune said. "We'll maintain this chakra balance and slowly increase the opening. If the Sanbi is below the barrier, it's sure to react. Let's go."

"Wait a minute, if we continue like this and the enemy appears," Ino said, "we won't be able to fight back."

"We won't have to fight them," Shizune said sharply. "You guys just concentrate on controlling your chakra and believe that your comrades will take care of the enemy."

Ino winced and fell to the ground, breathing heavily. My attention snapped towards her. "Are you alright?"

"Wuss," Hidan sneered.

"Shut up," Kakuzu and Sasori said again.

Ino didn't answer, only raising her hand and reattaching herself to the seal. A flicker of doubt crossed her face and I gave her an encouraging smile. "Relax Ino. I know you can do this. Chakra control is just basics for us and besides… I won't let anything happen to you."

Ino's eyes flickered close before opening again and returning the smile. "Don't belittle me. Of course I can do this."

She stood back up, reimbursing the seal.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Step by step we walked, our chakra both pushed into our feet and hands as we moved. Carefully and painfully slow our seal widened as we moved. Although we had yet to find anything.

Minutes ticked by until the seal finally reacted.

Dense chakra flowed through me, entering from my own chakra into the seal. Above us, the barrier glowed brightly, the letters written atop of it rearranging.

"It's directly below us," Hinata said, her eyes scanning the dark waters we stood above.

I suppressed a shiver. Somehow I had a feeling that I wouldn't be swimming in dark waters willingly any time soon. The thought that we were actually _wanting_ a monster to spring up from under us was a little unnerving.

Oh well, at least it wouldn't be a surprise.

Hopefully.

"We're switching from search mode into the sealing barrier. Breathe calmly," Shizune said. "Let's begin."

"Four Courner Sealing Barrier: Bind!" we said in perfect synch, our hands moving to form a new handsign as our chakra fluctuated.

The entire seal lifted above us, forming high into something that resembled the top of a rocket. The deliciate letterings and twisted lines around it flickered different colors before settling on white and red. The seal grew and grew.

"Just like this," Shizune said. "Quietly sink the net. Don't let the Sanbi know we're here!"

Hinata stiffened. "Enemy!"

My eyes narrowed in annoyance before moving around quickly and locating said enemy. My lips quirked down in a frown.

"Don't lose focus!" Shiuzne said sharply.

My eyes moved away from the enemy, as I felt a familiar presence encounter him.

Go Lee.

Tenten landed beside Lee as Lee landed beside me. "We took care of the other enemies and care as fast as we could. I'm glad we made it."

"We are too," I mumbled.

My eyes refocused back to our seal, ignoring the enemy as he fled the scenes.

In the center of the net, just barely, I could make out the lining of the Sanbi below the surface. My eyes flickered closed as I concentrated on the feel of my chakra, snaking through the seal. I could feel the slight hum of the others' chakra as well. Our chakra hummed together in harmony through the seal.

My eyes opened at Shizune's voice. "The Sanbi has been completely ensured within the seal. Now let's narrow the sphere of the barrier so it will be completely trapped."

"Understood," we echoed.

By Lee and the others, I could sense another presence.

"Everyone concentrate!" Shizune said sharply. "The net is tight enough! Now we will close it from all four sides and seal the Sanbi for good."

A surge of my chakra left me through Shizune's guidance, being sucked right into the seal. The seal flickered with energy. It was then that that the seal faltered on Ino's side.

A flash of annoyance raced through me and my eyes snapped in her direction. _Damn it._

"It's fine! Synchronize. We'll lock it up again."

Ino replaced her chakra into the sealing again. I felt another presence join us but ignored it.

The seal fluctured. The Sanbi was awake and now trying to make its escape. Violent chakra erupted against the seal underneath the water and it took all of my effort not to falter beneath it. Above on the surface, waves of water came from underneath us.

The Sanbi roared as it surfaced in the water and we were forced to slide back with the waves.

I cringed, feeling the waves of chakra push against the seal.

"Looks like that fucker doesn't want to go down," Hidan said.

There was a pause before a loud thud and Hidan let out an oath. "Damn it Kakuzu! What was that for?"

"Shut _up, _you _moron_."

A single strong wave of chakra pushed out from the Sanbi and a massive tidal wave erupted from all sides.

"Fuck!" I cursed, losing my concentration and kicking off from the water.

I noted that the others had broken concentration as well. With mild annoyance I watched as the seal slowly disintegrated and the Sanbi roared above the water.

I shivered, but it was not from the cold water that splashed against me.

The Sanbi roared again, a massive tidal wave appearing from in front of me.

"Damn it," I cursed again twisting away in hopes of escaping. A wave of fatigue washed over me and my knees locked on instinct. The wave crashed on me with a pounding force. I struggled to move under the pressure but it was futile. A sharp pain erupted from the back of my head and I was lost to darkness.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

I coughed, my eyes flying open as I struggled to breathe for a moment. I coughed again, blinking rapidly as I tried to clear away the spots of black in my vision.

A warm hand fell on my back and gave it a comforting pat. I coughed again, violently, as my entire body shook. When I was done I gave a strangled intake of breath and glanced at my surroundings.

I looked up to find myself staring at Sasori and Kakuzu. Hidan was kneeling beside me. I gave another cough.

"What happened?" I croaked.

"The wave pushed you in the water, you hit your head on a rock and were knocked out instantly. It's still bleeding," Kakuzu said.

Sluggishly, I moved my hand to the back of my head. My hands flickered blue before fading into green.

"The others?" I asked, my voice still scratchy.

"The other fuckers are gone," Hidan snorted. "Don't know where and don't care."

I gave another cough, withdrawing my hand.

Fatigue hung over me but I pushed it aside momentarily. I let out a soft sigh. "Alright. I'll have to regroup with them."

Shakily I stood up and my hand rummaged through my pack tied around my wasit. I pulled out a small wet bottle and dropped out two pills before popping them in my mouth. I swallowed roughly and tucked the bottle away.

While my fatigue slowly faded away I scanned the area. Finding nothing of use, I sent out my chakra, searching for the others.

No such luck.

I gave a sigh and turned to move when I noticed a tall man walking towards me. My eyes widened and I sucked in a sharp breath.

Tobi.

Holy shit, Tobi was walking towards me.

"Tobi?" Hidan asked skeptically.

"What's he doing?" Kakuzu muttered.

Sasori's eyes narrowed.

I blinked at him owlishly. "Hi."

"Hi there girlie," Tobi said with a wave of his hand. "I'm Tobi!"

"Sakura," I introduced. "What are you doing here? You don't _look_ like one of Orochimaru's servants…"

Better to play dumb when around an evil mastermind. No matter how smexy voiced he is. Well, his _Tobi_ voice wasn't very smexy but you get what I'm saying.

"Sakura? Oi, oi, aren't you Kisame-senpai's fan girl? And didn't you defeat Sasori-senpai?" Tobi asked with a slight tilt of his head.

My lips twitched. "Yes and yes. So you're Akatsuki then?"

"Eheheh. What's Konoha doing way out here?"

Ah. So _that's_ why he approached me. Well, it's not like he's not going to figure it out anyway and take the Sanbi also. I can't exactly spill my guts to Tsunade _yet_ so…

"Sealing the Sanbi and failing at it," I said. "All the while Orochimaru's team trying to stop us and steal the Sanbi for themselves and whatnot. They even got a little boy to act as a Jinchūriki, he can manipulate the Sanbi."

"Such loyalty to your village," Kakuzu said dryly.

"Eh? Really?"

"Really," I assured him. "Anyway. I should probably head back to my group. Nice meeting you Tobi, I'm always ecstatic to meet more of Kisame-sams's colleagues…"

I moved a step back and Tobi moved a step forward. I moved another step back and Tobi moved _another _step forward.

I blinked. "You know, _that _is really creepy."

Tobi tilted his head.

"You look like a child predator."

Tobi stiffened. "What? Tobi wouldn't do such a thing! What a mean thing to say."

"You're the one stalking a young girl. At least you're not as bad as Orochimaru. He's trying to molest Sasuke."

"Mo… Tobi has no interest in such things!"

"So Tobi's a good boy?"

"Of course."

"Then if Tobi's a _good_ boy then he'll let the _good_ girl go," I emphasized, taking yet another step backwards.

Tobi took another step forwards, choosing not to speak.

I sighed. "You're going to make me waste most of my chakra that I just got back. Please don't do that to me."

Tobi took another step forward.

I gave a small whine before biting into my palm and summoning Ibuse. Having been slightly exhausted I definitely felt the whoosh of chakra leave me to summon him.

Ibuse appeared from underneath me and I sat on his head. "Ibuse. Dive. Flee. Find the others. _Now._"

Ibuse nosedived into the ground and darkness enveloped me. I held on tightly to him as he tunneled his way into the ground quickly. I released him momentarily to move my hands into seals and close off the ground behind us.

When we reappeared, it was right next to everyone. I patted Ibuse and he poofed away without a word. I fell to the ground and gave a yawn, rolling onto my back as the others rushed towards me.

"Sakura," Shizune said roughly, a green hand glowing as she placed it on me.

"Sleepy," I mumbled. "Wake me when it's time to seal again, mmk?"

My eyes drifted close, but not before I saw the amused smiles of Shizune and my members of the Akatsuki.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

I was carefully shaken awake by Ino. I blinked my eyes open to find myself back at our base. Only Ino and… the kid… Yūkimaru, were in the room. Not including the Akatsuki of course.

At my questioning gaze Ino filled me in, saying Naruto was missing and they found the kid but he's injured so Ino needs me to heal him ('cause she's still new at medical ninjutsu) while everyone else goes off to look for Naruot.

With a yawn I stood up and wandered towards the table where the kid laid. I placed my hand on his chest and my eyes narrowed into slits as I examined him.

"I don't have enough chakra," I said. "Ino, I want you to channel your chakra into me through my hands. Don't worry about what needs to be done, I'll be guiding the chakra."

"Okay," Ino said. My hands moved and were placed on Yūkimaru's chest. They flickered blue before turning green and Ino placed her hands atop of mine. I felt a surge of chakra rush through me and I carefully guided it inside of the boy.

He was suffering from the same chakra exhaustion Naruto had right before he started to rely on Fluffy's chakra. Something I had been forced to treat many times over, from training with Jiraiya and Naruto.

That was about when I noticed Lee watching us carefully.

My eyes flickered towards him. "Lee, I know you want to do random exercise but you will need your strength. There is not a doubt in my mind that the enemy will want this boy back and I don't have enough chakra to put up much of a fight. I won't be able to summon Ibuse for a while, especially while I'm using medical jutsu."

"Understood, Sakura-san!" Lee exclaimed. "I will not fail."

Tenten rolled her eyes and Shino remained impassive.

I averted my attention from them and back onto healing the boy.

Nearly half an hour passed of gentle healing. My chakra slowly rebuilt itself thanks to how little I had to really use for the actual healing. Though I was still tired and my chakra was not entirely full, it was enough to fend off an attack.

"Where am I?" came the quiet voice.

My hands fell away from the kid as he slowly opened his eyes and looked around. His hands moved to his chest as he tried to rummage through his pocket inside of his vest. His eyes snapped open and he bolted up. "It's not here. It's not here!"

"What's wrong?" I asked gently.

He ignored me, searching the table bed made for him, his voice becoming more frantic. "It's not here! It's not here!"

Finally he found it, holding up a pink crystal with a flower encased inside of it. He smiled and held it out to us. "I found it and it's not cracked it. Guren-san is safe."

He stood up and moved quickly towards the door, but I'm assuming a wave of exhaustion pressed on him because he stumbled and fell. Unhindered he tried again, only to fall again. Ino moved to assist him.

My eyes narrowed slightly and I moved outside of the wooden home, biting into my palm and summoning Ibuse underneath me. "Form the standard lethal poison."

__Yes, Sakura-hime. __

I moved around the room, grabbing my pack and pulling out a slim black case. Opening it, revealed ten vials holding a sort of pinkish liquid inside. I pulled out six and uncapped them.

"Ino," I said, tossing two to her.

She caught them and raised an eyebrow.

"I'm setting up Ibuse. The antidote will work for three hours. Inject the kid too."

She nodded and I moved on. I tossed one to Shino and he injected himself, having heard our conversation.

I found Tenten and Lee, giving them antidotes as well before I moved back through the house, patrolling alone.

"You were awfully chatty with Tobi," Kakuzu said.

"He'd figure that stuff out anyway," I said absently. "I only sped things up a bit."

"Why?" Hidan snorted.

I gave a secretive smile. "Because I know things and I would much rather be on his good side at this point. Better he dismisses me as an unloyal and lazy kunoichi with a bit of luck than to take me seriously and have me targeted."

"Tobi?" Hidan asked incredulously. "He's fucking harmless."

"I must agree with Hidan on this," Kakuzu said with narrowed eyes.

Sasori only raised an eyebrow at me.

I smiled and winked. "So you think."

I walked back into the room with Ino and the boy in it, moving to sit up on the table and lean against the wall. I relaxed, drifting off into sleep.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Ibuse awaited on the shore with the others, given strict orders at the first sign of trouble to release the gas. I had to have Gedo create more antidotes for everyone though. The Sealing team along with Kakashi and Yūkimaru stood atop the lake.

Yūkimaru explained how the Sanbi had eaten Naruto and Guren and how he needed to show them the exit. He then requested we brought him camellias.

Well… we did as he instructed.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

While that plan took place, the Sealing team once again decided to have a second go. With great reluctance, I released Ibuse. I was hoping Kabuto's team would have made it here sooner, or at least before we were called into action but it seemed reality wanted to go along the same lines as the damn anime.

Damn what a waste.

Once again, I found my chakra being pushed into the sealing and all focus was pushed into it and away from the others.

I could feel the strong surge of chakra from the waters beneath us but paid it no heed. Step by step we slowly spread out, the seal moving with us.

A thick mist fell over us, obscuring my entire view. I could hear the water splashing as Kakashi, Yamato and Shino moved to shield us. I blinked my eyes in the smokescreen but was unable to see a thing.

"Tch," I muttered, closing my eyes and focusing on my chakra.

I felt a surge of Yamato's chakra and could hear explosions around me.

Sharp chakra butted against the seal and harsh pressure pressed down against me. I winced and steadied myself, pushing my chakra into the seal to reimburse it.

That was when I felt Yūkimaru's chakra.

It was unlike anything I had ever felt. No, that wasn't quite right, it was similar to Naruto's chakra just before he transitioned into using Fluffy's chakra. Sharp. Commanding. Dominate. Frantic. _Afraid._

The entire lake shook and waves crashed high around us.

A particularly high wave threatened to crash upon me but I rolled with it. It was then, that I noticed Katsuyu on my right shoulder. I could hear Ino's shocked shriek and figured she must have had the slug summon on her shoulder as well.

"Why were you sent here, Katsuyu-sama?" I asked.

"Tsunade-sama's been worried about whether or not the sealing jutsu you used last time would be effective to hold a bijū, so I'm carrying chakra with me for you to use on the jutsu."

"Thank you," I murmured.

"Then I will start distributing it now," The slug said softly. She glowed a pale blue as her chakra began to wrap around each of us. My eyes flickered closed again and I directed Tsunade's chakra into the seal as well.

The Sanbi continued to thrash against the seal but it held. Tense minutes passed by but when I opened my eyes once more the smoke screen was gone.

Kakashi and the others must have finished off the opponents then.

A roar sounded from below as the Sanbi thrashed more. The water erupted as the Sanbi broke to the surface with a mighty roar. The sheer pressure of his attack was enough to completely shatter the seal.

In a split second the water rose up and before any of us could react, it pulled me under once again.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

I coughed and spluttered. My eyes opened into cracks, only seeing blurred images. My head spun and I weakly lifted it, blinking away the blurriness. My arms were slung lazily over familiar shoulders and my legs dangled in familiar hands.

I lifted my head from the familiar back and blinked up.

"Kakashi-sensei?" I murmured tiredly.

"You hit your head," Kakashi said.

"Again," Hidan added.

"Oh," I mumbled.

"Go back to sleep Sakura."

"Okay."

I did as I was told.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Back at the base, everyone sat down. The leaders—Shizune, Kakashi, Yamato sat in the front with Katsuyu beside them. The rest of us sat in front of them. Well, everyone except me.

I was still weak from my double hit to the head so I was allowed to lay down, my head rested in Hinata's lap and my feet in Naruto's.

"We've been told to suspend the mission as of now," Kakashi addressed us, "and immediately return to the village."

"Is it really okay to just leave the Sanbi like this?" Kiba demanded.

"We don't have to worry about that," Yamato said. "They're sending another team of shinobi to keep watch."

"Even so, there's not much we can do by staying here," Shizune added. "Everyone has sustained a lot of damage. That's why Tsunade-sama thinks that it's better to withdraw with what we've learned to devise another plan."

"We'll head back in the morning. Every one of you should get plenty of rest for tomorrow," Kakashi said.

I yawned tiredly and Hinata patted me gently.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

The next morning I got to piggyback Kakashi back to Konoha. Apparently Shizune was worried about my head. Not that I minded. I was still sleepy and Kakashi's back is a very nice place to sleep.

So I snuggled in, closed my eyes and let sleep take me.

Ah well… the mission might have been a bust but at least it was over with now.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Dear Sakura,

I don't know. Though I suppose I would want either the Third Kazekage's ability to control iron or the First Hokage's ability to grow life.

You _would_ want to be named that.

Yours,

Gaara

* * *

_Tobi is such a smexy creeper. But don't worry, I think he just wanted to scare her a bit._

_Okay... I have some bad news and explainnig to do._

_The thing was, yesterday I was unable to update because I was literally too sick to either leave my bedroom or bathroom. By the time I was capable of not retching for two hours, was well past midnight. Food poisoning _sucks_. So, I am sorry I wasn't able to update but I really just couldn't. The bad news is that I don't think I'll be update at all again until either Late Sunday night or... yeah, next guys. I'll try and get an update up ASAP, but just be warned. D:_

**_Answer: _**_Funniest thing... Well, at the time it wasn't funny but it's the sort of story that's kind of funny when you look back on it _years _later. Disgusting. But kind of funny. It was summer camp (don, don dooon), my frist one. My cabin was big on canoeing and so was our Cabin Mother. We would canoe for at least two hours every day that summer. And one day while we were canoeing we found a cave. Just a small, off the ways cave about a half a mile down stream from camp. We, of course, wanted to explore it. Peanut (our Cabin Mother's designated nickname) said if we behaved well enough for the rest of the week, we could explore it. We were perfect little angels (as far as she knew... don't even get me started on the Cabin-Wars...). _

_So when we went to explore the cave... it was actually pretty huge. And _reallly, really _cold when we got pretty far into it. Keep in mind we were all just in our bathing suits and water shoes, just bringing a couple flash lights. We weren't planning on going really far in... Anyway, after a while we reached the _beautiful_ ledge that was just begging to be crawled across and looked at. The only problem is that there was this tiny little hole right in front of it. Big enough for one of us to fall in to though. So Peanut had us go across the hole one by one to climb the to the ledge._

_When it was my turn. I slipped. _

_I fell in the hole._

_I didn't break any bones. I wasn't physically hurt at all. No, no. My fall was broken._

_By what?_

_6 ft of guano. _

_Yeah. I'm serious. I had to _swim _in it. Not to mention because we were so far from camp... no one brought a ladder... I mean... really. It was just... ugh. Just... ugh. _

_Worst. Experience. Of. My. Life. I'm pretty sure I'm scarred for life of ever going in side a cave ever again. And bats. And cockroaches. Ugh. Just... ugh._

_But when I look back on it, this is the kind of story that's actually kind of funny when you think about it. _Years, and years into the future of course.

_But... yeah. That's the funniest thing I can think of at the top of my head._

**_The Question: _**_What was the first anime you ever watched?_

_Reviews are **love**._


	43. Shh Don't Tell Anyone, Kakashi

_"Your the type of boy I'd make a sandwhich for."_

_-Me for Tobi. ;D;D;D_

_Nah, I kid. _

_..._

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto. I just abuse it._

_**Warning: **Hidan. Um... references to genocide._

* * *

Dear Gaara,

You know… I really like writing to you. It's just something I look forward to every day, y'know?

In the hospital (again),

Sakura

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"Deidara is going to be joining us soon," I said to the seemingly empty hospital room. Okay, it wasn't _really_ empty. Sasori, Hidan, Kakuzu all stood around my bed.

"So soon?" Sasori raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean Deidara is going to be joining us?" Kakuzu inquired.

"I mean Deidara will be entering the Spirit Prison soon. Or die. Whichever Sasuke chooses," I explained.

"How do you know?" Kakuzu asked.

I grinned and exchanged with Sasori a knowing glance. "It's my secret. Something you'll just have to figure out."

"That's not fucking fun. You told puppet boy!" Hidan accused.

"Yes I did," I admitted. "But not before I tortured him a bit."

"Who will be joining us after Diedara?" Sasori asked.

I tilted my head. "_Technically_—"

The door to my room slid open and in stepped Jiraiya. I grinned at him and raised my hand. "Hi Shisho."

"Sakura," Jiraiya greeted. "Sasori. Kakuzu… Hidan."

Sasori gave a slight dip of his head along with Kakuzu. Hidan merely narrowed his eyes.

"The Sanbi mission is done," Jiraiya said, releasing a slow breath. "My death is coming up next, right?"

At his words, both Kakuzu and Hidan tensed.

"Originally, yes," I said. "Along with my main plan. You headed towards Pein and battled, he killed you. At the same time, during this we were off to retrieve Itachi and indirectly, Sasuke. But with my plan…"

My eyes closed momentarily. "I'll need your help convincing Tsunade-sama."

"I know," Jiraiya said. "More importantly… are you sure you don't want to tell anyone else about… this?"

"I don't want to tell anyone else until Pein attacks Konoha," I said. "It's too risky. There are too many spies in the ANBU and too many traitors in this village. I can't risk Danzo finding out or, worse, _Tobi_. If either of them found out, I'm fucked."

"Tobi?" Hidan snorted.

"But it's more than that," I whispered. "It's not their burden to bare."

Faces flashed in my mind again. Sarutobi and the others… No. It was not their burden to bare. I didn't want to shove this responsibility on anyone else when I could avoid it. It wouldn't be fair to entrust so many lives into another's hands and expect them to either sit by idly and watch them die, or to take action and risk more deaths.

I didn't want to share my guilt with anyone else.

Jiraiya seemed to sense my line of thoughts. "You need to share it, if only with one other person until you can share it with Tsunade. I won't always be with you and what would you do if something unexpected happen?"

"Wing it?" I asked hopefully.

Jiraiya snorted.

I shook my head. "I just… I guess I'm a little afraid of what they will do. I'm worried they might act on their own and mess up the plan and I'm scared at how they might think… of me."

My eyes trailed downwards and I curled my knees into my chest. "I let all those people die because I was stupid."

Sasori and the others eyed me curiously. Jiraiya frowned slightly and moved to sit on my bed. "Sakura—"

The door opened and Jiraiya was cut off. My eyes snapped forward and widened when I saw Kakashi standing there. His eye narrowed into confusion as he glanced between the two of us. I frowned slightly.

Why was he confused…?

I let in a sharp intake of breath.

He heard.

_Shit._

"How long have you been standing there?" I breathed.

"I was right behind Jiraiya," Kakashi answered me.

I shot Jiraiya and accusing look. "You knew he was there. You knew he was listening and you didn't tell me."

"Sakura," Jiraiya said gently. "He's your sensei and close comrade. You can trust him."

"It's more than that," I argued weakly, my voice wavering.

"I know," Jiraiya said. "But he'd understand."

"How can you be so sure?" I snapped coldly. "What if he _doesn't_?"

A thought that horrified me.

"What would I understand?" Kakashi asked.

My eyes flickered towards him before drifting back down.

Sasori gave an irritated sigh. "They're going to find out the easy way, aren't they?"

"Sakura," Kakashi said, pulling my eyes back up to him. "What's going on?"

I curled up tighter into myself, my hands locking together as my eyes drifted to Jiraiya and back to Kakashi.

Did I really want to tell him?

I could trust him to at the very least, keep this between us. But could I trust him to treat me no differently than before, to make sure no one clued in about our secret? Could I trust him to _think_ of me the same way?

After all, I had left all those people to die. People he knew and people he cared about, if only in an obligation sort of way. Furthermore, I had never told him before, would he think less of me for not telling him?

But Jiraiya was right, to some extent. He wouldn't always be there to back me up and now I'm entering a very delicate plan. It would be nice to have Kakashi at my back, but would it be worth the risk?

"Personally," Sasori said dryly. "I would not tell him. But that is because I am a mistrustful person and I do not know him. He is your sensei, Sakura. From what I have seen he cares for you. I do not think he would view you any less if you explained the situation."

I looked up at Sasori owlishly, my mouth opening to form a small o. Sasori scoffed at my expression and I found myself smiling.

Perhaps he's right.

And I've always been one to try and find out, not much point in dwelling on pessimistic thoughts.

I looked back at Kakashi. "I can see the future."

Kakashi's eye narrowed. "What?"

Jiraiya moved to stand beside Kakashi, placing an arm on his shoulder and guiding him towards the seat at my bed. "Sit down. This might take a while."

"I can see into the future," I said again once Kakashi sat down. "I know things that are going to happen and I've known it for a long time."

"Impossible," Kakashi said.

"It's true," Jiraiya said, his voice flat. "She can see into the past as well, though it's very limited."

"Impossible," Kakashi said again.

"I know about Obito," I said. "I know that you used to stick so close to the shinobi rules you were willing to leave Rin behind when she was captured by enemy shinobi. I know that Obito was the one who told you he thought your father was a hero and that those who leave their friends are worse than scum. I know when you went to rescue Rin, a landslide fell on top of Obito and trapped half of him under. I know that Rin transferred Obito's eye into your own eye and I know you changed since that day."

"Is that how he got the Sharingan?" Kakuzu mused.

"She can see into the future," Hidan gawked. "That shits like… impossible."

"Not with her," Sasori said.

Kakashi was staring at me with a wide eye.

I swallowed. "I know the future, Kakashi-sensei. Or at least, I know _a_ future. For the past two years I've been working with Shisho to try and change this future to make it better than the one I saw."

Kakashi continued to stare at me.

"Think about it," I whispered. "Why else do you think I was so calm during the Zabuza mission? How else I knew what words to say during the bell test? Why I saved Lee from Gaara? Why I didn't stop Sasuke from leaving that night? Why did I already know the basic antidote for Kankuro? Why was I prepared to capture Sasori?"

I gnawed at my bottom lip. "Why else did I know about the spy when Sasori never told me? Why I already had a poison specifically ready for the undead? Why I knew I had to save Asuma?"

I looked down at my lap again. "Why did I know all of those things if I hadn't seen the future?"

"Sakura…"

I looked up.

Kakashi was eyeing me carefully, though there was nothing harmful in his eye. "What you're telling me is very difficult to grasp, yet at the same time… it makes sense. I suppose I had always known there was something odd about the way you knew things but I dismissed it simply because of the impossibility of it…"

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

"For what?" Kakashi asked patiently.

"For not telling you. I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Kakashi said. "In some way I can understand why you did not want to. Knowing the future is a heavy burden to bare."

I nodded mutely.

Jiraiya gave a smile and patted my head before he rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a vial.

I stared at it before I glowered at Jiraiya. "You…! You…! You knew all along I would tell him!"

"Of course," Jiraiya said. "Kakashi, inject this."

"What is it?" Kakashi asked, taking the vial.

I glared darkly at Jiraiya. Jiraiya glanced at Kakashi. "As Sakura mentioned earlier, we've been working to make a brighter future. A brighter future for as many people as she can get her hands on. These people include… well. They're an interesting group only she and I can have contact with."

"Wait… what?" Hidan asked. "Is _that_ why you saved us?"

I gave Hidan and Kakuzu a shy smile. "Yeah. I kind of like you guys and I'm hoping I'll be able to give a better ending than what I originally saw."

They both stared at me with stunned expressions.

"Who are you…?" Kakashi asked. Jiraiya motioned to the injection. Kakashi gave a pause before doing so.

His eye widened considerably at seeing three S-Ranked missing-nin suddenly in the room.

"What…"

I looked over at Sasori, smiling while Jiraiya explained the Spirit Prison to Kakashi.

Kakashi slumped in his chair. "Wow…"

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"So," I said. "Now that you know the… basics to all of this… I guess we should get moving."

"Get moving?" Kakashi echoed, still slightly shell shocked from everything.

"The reason I returned," Jiraiya said. "Was to help Sakura convince Tsunade of her plan without revealing everything she knows."

"Why don't you want Tsunade-sama to know?" Kakashi asked.

I gave Kakashi a funny look. "She has enough on her plate now and if she knew it would become her obligation as Hokage to interrogate me. Even if she didn't want to. If she looked the other way and ignored everything I knew, the Council would use that against her the moment I revealed myself to… well. To _some_ of the Council members. If I can postpone her knowing for as long as possible, the better she'll be."

Jiraiya gave a nod and Kakashi dipped his head in acknowledgement.

"Come on," I said, shoving myself out of bed and heading toward the door. "The sooner we tell her about this, the better."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

I stood in Tsunade's office, holding a familiar scroll in my hands. To my left, Jiraiya stood and to my right, Kakashi stood. Sasori, Kakuzu and Hidan had all been asked to wait for us outside. They inclined, with only Hidan adding a bit of grumbling. I think Hidan and Kakuzu were still in too much shock to argue about much. Sasori simply didn't care. He knew he'd find out soon enough.

Tsunade frowned at us, along with Shizune. "What is the meaning of this? Sakura, you should still be in the hospital."

"Hokage-sama," I said. "I request a private discussion with you. I think you'll find it to be of the utmost importance."

Tsunade's eyes flickered with confusion but nodded to Shizune. Shizune shot me a curious glance but she headed out of the room. When she left, Jiraiya performed a quick seal to make sure no one would be able to see into the room, or listen.

"Alright, what is the meaning of this?" Tsunade asked.

I set the scroll on her desk and she picked it up wearily. "This scroll… it's sealed by the highest level of sealing. This is above S rank. Sakura, how did you get this scroll?"

"I broke into Danzo's secret lair underneath his home," I said.

Her eyes widened. "You _what?_"

Kakashi shot me an alarmed look.

"You heard what I said. Look, it doesn't matter _how_ I got the scroll. Please, just read it. I think you'll find it to be very interesting."

Tsunade eyed me warily but at Jiraiya's nod, opened the scroll. Her eyes scanned the content, her face growling paler and paler by the second.

She gripped it tightly, her hands shaking. "Are you… are you serious?"

I held out the scroll and she handed it to me wordlessly. I handed it to Kakashi and allowed him to read its contents. A moment later and he gave a sharp intake of breath.

"Perfectly," Jiraiya said, his voice flat.

**(*WARNING! SPOILER ALERT… KIND OF…*)**

"You mean to tell me Itachi has been the good guy all along?" Tsunade asked.

"There's more to it," I mumbled. "The scroll doesn't say everything…"

Tsunade ignored me, her eyes focused on Jiraiya. Jiraiya gave a slow nod. "It's true. Every word of it."

"Damn that man," Tsunade growled. "Forcing the old man into this situation… there are plenty of different ways to deal with a coup. A massacre is not… _damn it._"

I nodded. "Tsunade-sama… Sasuke's been chasing after the wrong man all this time."

"I know," Tsunade snarled, her temper flaring.

"And he won't come back until he can have his revenge," I continued, unhindered by her sharp remark.

"What are you saying?" Tsunade asked, her eyes narrowed. Kakashi shot me a curious look and Jiraiya kept his gaze focused on Tsunade. He already knew my plan.

"For the massacre," I said. "It is within the rights of Clans to deal with personal affairs. Danzo along with the other Elders personally signed this. By Clan rights, Sasuke has the justification to deal with Danzo and the others without Konoha's interference."

Tsunade's eyes flashed. "And you really think that boy will be able to take on the entire ROOT to get to Danzo?"

"There's more to it," I said. "Danzo has violated the law as well. Multiple laws. I cannot tell you all, but you must trust me that I will reveal the most horrible one at the right time. However… you are the current Hokage. This scroll should have been brought to you the moment you were initiated. Danzo has kept this hidden from you as well as many other scrolls."

"And what can I do about it?" Tsunade demanded. "That man is strung up too high for me to touch him. If I could, I would have killed him long ago."

"What goes up has got to fall," I reminded her. "And I have plan, just for him. But I _need_ your help. Please, Tsunade."

Her eyes flashed again and she glanced over at Jiraiya. Jiraiya gave her a firm nod. Her eyes flickered over to Kakashi and I held my breath. Kakashi gave her a firm nod as well.

Her eyes landed back to me. "I'm listening."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

**(*END OF SPOILER… TSUNADE DISCOVERS THE TRUTH ABOUT THE MASSACRE AND A PLAN IS BORN!*)**

"It's hard to believe you had that in mind for your plan the entire time," Kakashi said.

"What? Is it too complicated?" I asked incredulously.

"No… it's just so… _simple_. Here I thought you would have an overly complicated plan going on but it's just so… _simple_."

"She's a simple person, what would you expect," Sasori interjected.

I shrugged. "Can't argue with that."

"So when do you plan on telling us the plan, bitch?" Hidan asked.

"You'll figure it out," I assured him.

"I'm not so sure about Hidan," Kakuzu muttered.

"What?" Hidan snarled.

"Are they always like this?" Kakashi asked me.

"Most of the time," I said. "Just try and ignore them."

"Don't get mad at me for you being born as a moron," Kakuzu said.

"You little cocksucker—"

Kakashi cleared his throat. "If everything is going according to your plan we'll have about six days before we have to head out for Sasuke. I suggest you use this time to relax."

"I will," I promised. "But I might toss in some training. I _really_ want to master these new jutsus that Shisho showed me."

"Rest, Sakura. You don't have Naruto's regeneration rate. You still have stitches in your head," Kakashi said.

I rolled my eyes. "I'll be fine. Now who's up for a movie?"

"Hell yeah!" Hidan exclaimed. "Let's watch _The Ring_!"

"Hell no," Kakuzu deadpanned. "We are not watching that. If we want to watch a horror movie, then we'll watching _Saw_."

"Idiots," Sasori muttered.

I sighed. "Do we _have_ to watch a horror movie?"

"Yes."

I shot Kakashi a pleading look but he smirked at me before heading away.

"Aw, damn it guys. You're gonna give me nightmares!" I whined.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Dear Sakura,

I enjoy writing to you as well. I find your letters something I very much look forward to daily. It pleases me that you like it as well.

Yours,

Gaara

* * *

_Kukuku... next chapter... next chapter will have Sasuke, Itachi, and Kisame in it. _

_You know what's going down._

**_Word of warning: _**_Next chapter will reveal a.) what happened to the old Sakura b.) lots more spoilers c.) (possibly) what happened to Sakura's parents d.) ... some more shit. It'll be a long, long chapter. I might not have it done by Friday. If not I will upload it on **Saturday** or **Sunday** at the latest. Probably Saturday. _

_Just a word of warning._

**_And yes, I feel much better :D Thanks for your concern!_**

**_Answer: _**_Oh wow... umm... Technically Naruto, but I only watched from Part I, Naruto vs Neji's match to Hinata dancing nekkid by the waterfall... and I was pretty little so I didn't understand most of it. First anime I watched all the way through for the purpose of watching anime was Fruits Basket. :3_

_I have never watched S. Moon. D: I feel so sad that I missed out on it because for a lot of you, that was your first anime. I wonder if I should try watching it now? _

**_Question: _**_Top five l__east favorite creatures (bug, animal, plant... humans?) in the world?_


	44. Two Flowers, One Blossoms, One Wilts

_"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives."_

_-Anonymous_

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto._

_**Warning: OH GOSH PEOPLE. GET YOUR HANKY. Character death. Sort of. **And Hidan._

* * *

Dear Gaara,

Do you ever feel a lot of pressure being Kazekage? Does it ever bother you to know that you hold everyone's life in your hands?

Even though I'm not Hokage, there are times when I feel that pressure. There are times when I feel guilt too. It eats away at me, whispers to me how their deaths is my own fault.

I failed a lot of people Gaara.

Does that make me a bad person?

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Eight readied shinobi of Konoha stood at the top of a large tower. A large fortified tower that served as a base for the Konoha Shinobi patrolling the border. Hinata, Shino, Kiba, Sai, Naruto, Yamato, Kakashi and I.

All of us were preparing to take part in the most crucial mission yet.

Bring back the Uchiha brothers.

Well. That was the _real_ mission, along with another _minor_ mission that Kakashi and I were on. The rest of the team—as far as they were concerned—were to try and bring Itachi in and indirectly find Sasuke.

I suppose our missions were along the same lines, though I would be going about it much differently.

Hell, just thinking about the mission made me nervous. If I failed this mission, if Sasuke refused the information and attacked Itachi anyway… If Itachi refused… if Tobi showed up… so many possible screw ups. If I failed this mission I could kiss that happy ending a goodbye.

But if I succeeded in this mission…

It was unnerving. The pressure. The anxiety. All of it.

I shifted unsteadily. Kakashi glanced at me before placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder. I shot him a grateful look.

"Alright," Kakashi said. "Our mission to find Itachi, and bring him in, begins now. Akatsuki is after the bijū, and we have reason to believe that they've obtained the Sanbi. According to our… informant… they may have already infiltrated the Fire Country, targeting Naruto. Itachi is from Konoha. Three years ago, he returned to the village in an effort to capture Naruto."

"So… he'll be returning to Konoha again?" Sai guessed.

"Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves," Yamato said.

"Here's the plan," Kakashi said. "This point will serve as the main base. We'll do a five kilometer search in every direction. If we don't find anything, we'll establish a new center point and repeat the process. And so on and so forth."

"Our radios will be out of range at five kilometers though," Hinata said softly.

Kakashi gave a small nod before his hands moved into familiar handseals. He summoned Pakkun and the whole tracking team. Pakkun grinned. "Our voices that can reach farther than a radio, and our noses that can detect danger in an instant, are at your command."

"Now, onto patrol formations," Kakashi said. "Every member will be accompanied by two ninja dogs. Be nice, all of you."

Two dogs moved towards me, both relatively small. One of them resembled a small grey wolf with a white underbelly and a tuft of dark grey fur atop his head in the manner of a Mohawk. The other resembled a beagle of sorts, thin sandy brown fur with darker brown paws and dropping ears.

"Nice to meet you, Sakura-chan," the wolf one said with a wink.

"Kakashi made sure to fill us in," added the beagle.

"What about me?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto, you're the jinchūriki their after. You'll be paired with Yamato and Hinata," Kakashi said. Pakkun moved to rest on Kakashi's shoulder.

"Along with Big Bark Bull," Pakkun added with a sharp grin.

"Kiba and I both have one dog each already since we're both ninja dog shinobi."

"So then we're okay," Kiba said with a smirk.

"Listen up everyone," Kakashi said. "First and foremost, you'll be tracking the scent of Itachi and Sasuke. If you encounter either of them, mark their location and return here. Especially you, Naruto. Don't go running ahead of us."

"I got it," Naruto muttered.

"Alright," Kakashi said. "Let's move out."

I pushed chakra into the bottom of my feet and took off.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"Do you see her yet?" asked the beagle, sniffing the air.

I maneuvered through the streets, my eyes scanning the crowd. "Mm… should be around here somewhere. I'm going to go ahead and make my transformation. You know the plan?"

"Of course we do," Wolf grinned.

"So when the hell do you plan on telling _us_ the plan?" Hidan muttered irritably, though he said it more to himself. He knew I wouldn't answer.

Kakuzu and Sasori remained quiet.

I bit into my palm, summing an old friend.

I grinned when the smoke cleared. "Hensou."

_!-Sakura-sama! Hi, I take it it's time?-!_

I smiled. "Yeah. You'll be with this guy." With my left hand I gestured to Wolf. "Wait a moment though."

A few handsigns later, I stared at a mirror image of myself. Rock clone, complete. Clone me grinned and winked. I winked right back before turning to face Hensou. "Alright. Ready."

_!-Understood! Here I go.-!_

I felt a wave of warm rush through me and soon I was back into a form I had not entered in years. My tail flickered and Beagle sniffed me. He grinned up at me. "Ready?"

I nodded my head and Beagle bent down. I clambered upon his head.

Hensou had mimicked the same motion with Wolf. I snuggled further into Beagle's fur, hiding underneath the Konoha jacket he wore and scanning the area.

The two dogs continued walking slowly, clone-me in the middle. My eyes moved around. Step by step. Until…

I pawed at Beagle's head. He lifted his head from the ground.

_There. _I projected my thoughts, just as Ibuse had taught me to do in this form. _Red hair, black cloak._

"Understood," Beagle said quietly. With a wordless exchange with Wolf, Beagle moved forward. Wolf sniffed the air again before rushing off and away along with clone-me pursuing him, leaving Beagle and I alone with Karin.

Beagle moved carefully and I positioned myself.

My stomach fluttered and I had to stop myself from shuddering from nerves. Beagle moved forward just as Karin did.

We passed Karin and I leapt.

I flew for a moment, before I quickly latched onto her large foot and jumped back to grab her cloak. I scrambled on it, climbing up until I was roughly at her higher mid back.

I held on tightly to the inside of her cloak and waited.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

It was a rough trip, but Karin was eventually reunited with Sasuke and the others.

"I felt an immense power of chakra, and I smelt a strange chakra signature," Karin said as she reached Sasuke.

Because I couldn't see anything, I could only guess he was eyeing her indifferently from his tone. I gripped my claws into her cloak.

"I'm fine," Sasuke said.

"I suppose it is unsurprising that my ex-partner was bested by this brat," Sasori mused. "Though the irony of it is very amusing."

"Irony?" Hidan snorted.

"Ah, that's right," Kakuzu said. "Deidara was also defeated by Itachi, this brat's older brother. Because of that defeat he grew to hate the Sharingan. Now he was defeated, with near ease, by yet another Sharingan user."

"Aa," Hidan chuckled. "Ironic."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

**(Third Person POV – Sasuke)**

Sasuke stared down impassively at the unconscious blonde before him. He was a little battered from the fight but he admitted it could have been much worse. This Deidara was a strong opponent and was not to be taken lightly.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Had Sakura not warned him about Deidara, Sasuke doubted the battle would have gone so smoothly.

Speaking of his former teammate, Sasuke wondered exactly _how_ she knew the future. Everything she had predicted came true, down to the last word. He had recruited Suigetsu then Karin then Jūgo in that order, not because she suggested it but because it was for convenience. The fact she knew the order at all was a little odd. Then her prediction about Deidara and… Tobi.

Sasuke had halfheartedly stabbed through Tobi, finding his attack to be utterly useless. She was correct once again in saying it would have been a waste to target the masked man. Then there was the little things… Jūgo did indeed follow Sasuke around like a little puppy and Karin was a fan girl of the worse caliber. Suigetsu had asked for Zabuza's sword and it was indeed with that man. Suigetsu and Karin even argued like a married couple.

Just like she had said.

To think… his Sakura knew the future. He had always known she was perceptive, once she had joined the team (she was useless in the academy), but he had just never imagined her ability extended to such a thing.

It would prove useful against Itachi.

Well. She _had_ said she would see him when he faced Itachi. Perhaps when she saw him, she planned on telling Sasuke his future.

Perhaps not.

It made no difference to him. In the end, the future would be the same—Itachi's death.

Back to reality though, Sasuke continued to eye Deidara. His partner was found to be nowhere in sight.

His hand gripped tightly the red scroll Sakura had given him earlier.

He unrolled it.

At once recognizing the seal inside it to be a summoning of sort, he threw to the ground, away from him. Smoke pooled out of it, taking the shape of a large creature. When the smoke eventually vanished, Sasuke found himself staring at a large salamander.

__Greetings, _ _came a deep voice. Sasuke eyed the salamander impassively. __I am Ibuse. Sakura-hime wishes to convey her thanks for your assistance. I have been asked, should you need it, to lend you my chakra. Are you low on your reserves, Duck-Ass-san?__

Sasuke's eyes narrowed into slits at the name. "No. You are her summon then?"

__I am.__

"What is your purpose here?" Sasuke asked.

Ibuse swung his massive head towards Deidara. __I will be escorting him into Sakura-hime's custody.__

"For Konoha, then?" Sasuke mused.

__No. For Sakura-hime. __

Sasuke's head tilted in question. Ibuse, however, did not notice it, as he had moved towards Deidara. His mouth opened widely before a large tongue snaked out and wrapped around the blonde Akatsuki member. Ibuse then swallowed Deidara.

__Well then, if you have no further need of me, I shall be moving on. Good day, Duck-Ass-san.__

"Wait," Sasuke said. "When will I be encountering Sakura?"

More importantly, when would he be encountering Itachi?

Ibuse tilted his head. __Sakura-hime told me to answer that question with a 'Soon. Patience is a virtue, Duck-Ass.' I hope that is a satisfactory answer.__

"Hn."

Ibuse dipped his head before he poofed away.

Sasuke stared at the spot where he had left for a moment while before Karin's voice pulled him again. Suigetsu, Karin and Jūgo were running towards him.

"I felt an immense power of chakra, and I smelt a strange chakra signature," Karin breathed, her eyes scanning him.

Sasuke eyed the fan girl indifferently. "I'm fine."

Suigetsu stared at Sasuke with a frown. "Either way, you should rest a little. Right, Karin?"

Though this last part was used as an obvious taunt, Karin easily fell for it. "Weakling! And to think _you're_ the one who killed Orochimaru."

Sasuke suppressed the urge to sigh at her sudden mood swing. "Orochimaru was already weakened. That's all there was to it."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

**(First Person POV – Sakura)**

We had arrived at a sort of hotel. Karin had discarded her cloak along with the others. I gave an annoyed sigh and sniffed each one of them carefully. Karin and the others had moved into the other room to tend to Sasuke's minor wounds.

Finally finding Sasuke's cloak, I buried myself in it and waited patiently for its owner to return.

"Damn this is going to take a while, isn't it?" Hidan whined.

"Patience is a virtue," Kakuzu rumbled.

"A virtue I nor Hidan shall ever achieve," Sasori said irritably.

An hour passed by until finally the team was on the move again. I clung tightly to the inside of the cloak as Sasuke swung it around and tied it to himself while walking. I flattened myself as best as I could, burying my nose against the fabric.

The team walked in silence for a while.

"You holdin' up okay, Sasuke?" Suigestsu asked.

"Yeah, my body's ability to heal is much faster now after obtaining Orochimaru's powers," Sasuke said.

"If it's Akatsuki or Konoha, they may have some info on Itachi," Karin said. "So maybe we should ambush them. What do you think, Sasuke?"

"If their numbers are as large as you said, then it's most likely Konoha. Akatsuki always move in groups of two," Sasuke replied.

"So ambushing them would just be a waste of time, right?" Suigestsu asked.

"Exactly. Just forget about Konoha."

"So what do we do?" Karin asked.

"We find Itachi. In a worst case scenario, you guys will have to stop Konoha if we find him." Sasuke paused. "But… among Konoha there will be a girl who might prove to be of assistance. Her name is Sakura, a former teammate of mine. If she claims to be an ally, let her through."

"Do we really want to trust her?" Suigestsu asked skeptically.

Hidan snickered.

I rolled my eyes.

"… She has yet to let me down."

"Sakura, Sakura," Karin murmured. "Her name seems really familiar…"

"Enough," Sasuke said. "For now we move as Team Hebi. We'll use Jūgo's information and check out the Akatsuki hideouts one by one. Let's go."

My eyes drifted close and I allowed myself to partially relax. This would take a while.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

After Sasuke talked to the Itachi clone and after Sasuke dispatched the Naruto clone, he was finally on his way to meeting the actual Itachi.

I wouldn't lie, I was nervous as hell.

There really was no telling how Sasuke would react, or Itachi for that matter. I could try and play the sensible, logical person and use legitimate reasoning, but that hasn't worked on Sasuke in the past. Or if it has, it was a _really_ long time ago.

Not to mention I doubt Itachi would want to give up his role so soon after everything he's been put through.

But… worst case scenario I use my knowledge to try and influence them. I mean, I'm pretty sure Sasuke's already figured it out and I'm pretty sure Itachi will believe me after I give him my... _argument_.

Either way.

Then there was Zetsu…

Was there _any_ way I could make sure he wasn't listening? Even if I bitch-punched the wall he would just move to the floor or the ceiling or whatever…

How annoying.

"Sasuke-kun, if you would, please continue by yourself."

"I'll be damned, it's fish face," Hidan sneered.

My eyes widened and I inwardly squealed at Kisame-sama's voice.

Damn, some things never change.

"It's Itachi-san's orders," Kisame said. I could practically see his sharp toothed grin. "The rest of you, please wait here."

"No problem," Sasuke responded. "The only reason I formed this team in the first place was to make sure that no one would interfere with me. This works well."

"Sasuke, you can't," Karin whispered harshly. "Let's just kick this guy's ass and go together!"

I bristled. How dare they assume they could actually stand a chance against _my_ idol!

"I'm not really in the mood for a fight, but if you insist on going together, I won't go easy on you," Kisame chuckled.

"Karin, stay out of this. This is _my_ revenge."

Sasuke leapt and I clung to the cloak, sighing sadly at being departed from Kisame.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Sasuke had stopped moving. I sniffed the air, it was a dusty smell.

"That Sharingan… how much can you actually see?"

My eyes widened and my stomach fluttered. Okay. We're here. I forced my eyes closed and concentrated on my hidden chakra.

"How much can I see with these?"

Find the connection… find the connection…

There. The connection between me and Hensou. So long as the connection stayed strong I would remain a salamander. But by severing the connection I would revert back into a human form. I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

When the connection was severed, Hensou would poof back to his world.

I scrambled out of Sasuke's cloak, leaping into the air just as Sasuke spoke. In the same instant I severed the connection.

"What I'm seeing right now, Itachi… is your death."

Poof.

"Wait, hold up bitches," I exclaimed, hopping out of my hiding spot and popping back into my human form. Immediately, I could feel two piercing gazes snap towards me but before I did anything else, I created a single shadowclone and popped it.

With that done, I turned to Sasuke, grinning cheekily at him. "Hey, Duck-Ass."

"Sakura," Sasuke said, blinking in mild surprise before schooling his features. "I take it you're here to try and assist me? Don't bother. I will deal with Itachi on my own."

"Mmm… yes, I am here to help you, just not in the way you would think," I replied, turning back to Itachi. "Hey there awesome person. Put me in Tsukuyomi please and thank you."

Itachi blinked at me, nothing else giving the indication of surprise.

"What did you say, Flat-Chest? Have you gone insane since I left?" Sasuke growled, his eyes narrowing.

"Put me in Tsukuyomi or I start blabbering about Madara—"

I felt a keen tingling sensation wash over my body before my world bled away to black and red. I blinked, looking to find myself standing over black water. Well, at least he hadn't strapped me down to something. I glanced around the area, my eyes eventually resting on Itachi who stood passively in front of me.

"Cool. We can talk freely now without Zetsu or Sasuke interrupting us. Hello, my name is Haruno Sakura," I greeted.

"Uchiha Itachi," Itachi replied neutrally. "What do you know about Madara?"

"A lot. More than you, actually," I chuckled. "But anyway… In Tsukuyomi… you can delve further into the victim's mind right? That's how you can derive information. You can't exactly read memories or minds like Yamanka Clan can, but that's only because of the barriers surrounding one's own mind. The only way you can see their memories is if they _let_ you in their mind. Right?"

"Wrong," Itachi stated blandly. "But correct on some basis. How do you know so much about the Tsukuyomi?"

I took a deep breath. "I'm horrible at manipulating people. I don't have Therapy-Jutsu like Naruto. I really, really suck at convincing people differently. Especially someone as devoted to their cover as you, Itachi-san."

Itachi's eyes narrowed.

"I want you to look into my memories. All of them. And see the absolute truth," I said.

He blinked.

I shifted, feeling nervous.

This course of action was my best bet. I needed Itachi alive—_wanted_ him alive. And for Sasuke to be happy, Itachi needed to live as well. For both of them to be happy, Itachi needed to discard his cover and return to Konoha. To his home.

Itachi was a good person. Out of all the people I have met over the years, Itachi is one of the few that definitely deserved a happy ending. But how could I convince someone so set on their own self-destruction to deter to a better lifestyle? I wasn't good with words. I really, _really_ wasn't. At least, not good enough to convince _Itachi Uchiha who slaughtered his own family for the sake of the village_.

So what could I do? What could I do except show him the truth—tell him the truth? About how much pain and misery Sasuke, his beloved little brother, would go through if he continued this course of action. But of course, how to convince him it was the truth?

Take him to the source.

A scary, horribly nerve-wracking thought.

But Itachi was a good person. He knew what was at stake. And I knew he would be professional and mature about it.

I trusted him, to this extent at least.

Itachi blinked once more. "Why would I do that?"

"Why wouldn't you? It wouldn't hurt. Not to mention you'd find out the secret involving 'Madara' and his plans for Konoha," I said.

Itachi stared at me.

"What do you have to lose?" I persisted.

"Very well," Itachi said slowly.

I let out a relieved, albeit still nervous sigh. There was just something horribly violating about letting someone look through your memories. Especially ones you didn't particularly like or feel proud of. I wondered if I could somehow edit those out and just show him… Well, he didn't need to see _all_ my memories. I only started reading the Naruto manga about a year and a half before my death. I think that timeline and the timeline from my start here and henceforth would be enough.

The world of red and black slowly bled away and I felt a sharp sting ring through my mind. I blinked my eyes a few times, clearing away spots as our environment shifted. Soon we were in total darkness.

"My memories for a total of four and half years back should be enough," I told Itachi. "Five years, if you really want to be careful."

Itachi stared at me impassively before I felt another jab of pain. I winced, reflexively clutching my head.

"Do not resist," Itachi said blandly.

"Trying," I hissed through clenched teeth, grimacing as the pain multiplied.

And then it was gone and we were floating.

Memories. All sorts of memories began to play before us, like a movie. I stared, transfixed for a moment before shaking my head. Itachi stared at the clips, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"Wait, so is this my subconscious?" I asked, looking around.

"Yes," Itachi answered absently, a frown pulling at his lips as he concentrated on a clip of me on a rollercoaster with friends.

"I'm…" _Inner… _"going to look around," I told him before floating away.

When Itachi was no longer in sight, I began to call out in a soft voice. "Inner? You there? Still alive?"

"**Sort** of."

I gave a startled shout, whirling around.

I paled. "Oh shit."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

**(Third Person POV – Clone Sakura)**

Sakura faltered momentarily in her steps as memories rushed to her. Kakashi immediately noticed, turning his head to face her. "Sakura?"

"Contact has been made," Sakura replied. "Mistress will now begin her own mission."

"Understood," Kakashi said.

"Come on guys, this way," Naruto growled, leaping high up into the air.

Hinata's voice quickly followed behind him. "Wait—Naruto-kun—!"

"Howdy!"

Sakura faltered again, landing down in a grassy clearing at the same time as the others, staring up at a familiar orange-masked man. The man had virtually appeared out of nowhere and startled Naruto, causing him to follow into the clearing as well.

"Well, now how's it going there? And there, and there… and there… Imagine running into Konoha folk around these parts. And it's two… four… six… eight against one," Tobi exclaimed, almost giggling. "What bad luck!"

"Wait… those robes," Yamato murmured. "You're a member of Akatsuki, too."

"Only this one wasn't on Kabuto's list," Kakashi muttered, his eyes locked firmly on Tobi.

"Ahaha, I'm kind of new here, nice to meet you," Tobi said. "Although, I've already met one of you."

"Hey molester," Sakura called out, winking at him.

"Tobi is a _good _boy!" Tobi immediately defended.

"Hey, I'm not complaining," Sakura said with a shrug. "It wouldn't be molesting, seeing how I'd probably enjoy it if it came from _you_."

"Mom!" Naruto cried out in indignation, his face bright red from embarrassment.

Sakrua shrugged.

"Ehehe…" Tobi nervously laughed.

"Hmph. Think you're funny, huh?" Kiba smirked. "Look buddy, don't waste our time."

"Don't be rash," Kakashi warned. "We need to wait and see. We do have a numbers advantage."

"Oh _dear_, am I being underestimated?" Tobi asked, an almost taunting edge to his voice. "By _you_ guys?"

"I'm not underestimating you, Tobi dear," Sakura informed him.

While this conversation was taking place, Naruto stealthily slipped behind Tobi, a Rasengan in full swing as he dove towards him. Tobi only gave him a glance as Naruto's attack went straight through him. Naruto, having his attack hit nothing but still going on the momentum of it, faltered and stumbled.

"Just kidding," Tobi called out as Naruto stumbled about.

Sakura giggled. "Naruto, honey, try not to kill the fun Akatsuki member."

"Mom! Don't take his side," Naruto groaned. "I don't care if you find him amusing. He's the bad guy!" "Bad is just a matter of perspective," Sakura told him.

Naruto scowled, turning back and rushing towards Tobi again. Tobi laughed before easily evading Naruto and then landing a direct kick to the face, sending the boy flying into a nearby pond.

"That wasn't very nice Tobi," Sakura said.

"Nice is just a matter of perspective," Tobi retorted.

Sakura smiled. She knew there was a reason she loved him (as a fan girl, of course).

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

**(First Person POV – Oc!Sakura) **

"Oh my God," I breathed, staring in horror with a mix of fascination at the person in front of me.

There, was my old self. The one that I had grown used to seeing in the mirror before coming into this world. Only not. Because it was only _half_ of my old self from the waist down and part of the left side up to the shoulder. The rest of the half?

Sakura.

The old Sakura.

She was in her Shippuden attire, her short hair fixed neatly and her familiar green eyes dancing with mirth before me.

"Oh my God," I repeated. "What? How? _What?_"

"**Yeah**," Sakura—Inner—Me—God what the _hell_?

"What—Who—How—Oh God what do I call you?"

"**Sakura for now,**" Sakura said, smiling. "**Idiot. Are** you seriously having a panic attack over something like this? **You wuss**."

"Sakura. _You're_ my inner?" I asked incredulously. "But… you were nothing like what your twelve-year-old self would have been at the time. Not to mention, why didn't you tell me? I mean… just… _what_?"

She smirked. "**Mind blown?**"

"Yeah," I managed. "Just… I don't know what to say. I don't understand this at all."

Sakura held up my own hand before she held up her own hand. I raised an eyebrow at her, not quite understanding. Sakura rolled her eyes. "**Kami you're such an idiot at times. Hav**en't you noticed that we're kind of fusing together?"

"Is that what it is?" I asked.

She sighed.

"Why? And why didn't you tell me? I never suspected a thing."

"**The moment you came into this world—came into me, you became me and I became you. All your memories, all your experiences, your thoughts, your feelings… everything. All of that just melted into me. I was dazed and out of it for weeks. Me being me, **conscious me. My own inner was in control as she got her bearings a lot faster than I did. But it changed us. For the wor**se or better, depends on your view. I think better, personally. I saw how I was… I saw how you thought of me and I hated it. I didn't want to be her. I didn't want to be that whiny little useless utter **_**b**__itch_."

I opened my mouth to respond, but no words came out.

"When you took over, I was so out of it I slipped off into a sort of hibernation. I wasn't sorted out until… until the funeral. For the Chūnin Exams. In the mean time my own inner mixed itself with your subconscious. My own inner is a personification of my subconscious, you see. So in a way you were talking with me to begin with. But neither of us realized it at the time. When… when _it_ happened though…"

My mind blanked out, grasping for some sort of trigger that might have awoken this Sakura, brought her back from her hibernation inside of me. The danger? No, no… The guilt? No… it had to be something more… something personal… something…

Oh.

"**Yes,**" Sakura murmured. "**They… it triggered my awakening and I became aware right before the funeral was held. By th**en, all of your memories were perfectly melded into my own. And my memories into yours, correct?"

I only nodded.

"**I liked… I liked where this could have taken us. I liked the changes you were making. I liked your ideas. I liked how you were m**aking me for the better. I liked it. I didn't want it to stop," Sakura said.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I whispered, horror and revulsion churning through my stomach. "Why aren't you mad at me? I… I basically stole your body from you."

"**You didn't**," Sakura immediately disagreed, her eyes flaring dangerous. "**Don't you **_**dare**_** think that. Don't you see this? We're beco**ming _one _person. Already, everything _you_ experience—I experience. Your thoughts, your feelings… everything. We aren't two different people any more. You're Sakura. **And I'm Sakura**."

"I…"

"**Can't you see it?**" Sakura growled. "**I swear if I have to beat sense into you, I **_**so**_** will. I **_**like**_** this outcome.**"

"You'll die," I said quietly.

"**I'll **_**live**_," Sakura snapped. "**In a way tha**t I can _enjoy_."

"No," I replied, shaking my head. "You'll die. You'll lose that part of you—that individual self of you to me. Is that why you've been so quiet? Not because you didn't _want_ to talk… but because you couldn't? Am I… am I virus to you?"

Sakura stared moodily at me. "**Why are you making this into such a big deal? I'm** basically giving you permission to continue on."

"I died," I said slowly. "By my own actions. By my own mistakes. This was none of your fault so why should you—"

"**Maybe I want to**," Sakura said quietly. "Maybe I want to die."

"You don't."

"You're right. But what choice do I have?"

"Fight? Take control back?"

"**It's too late for that**," Sakura murmured. "**And I don't want to fight you. I can't do the things you're doing. I** don't _want_ to do the things you're doing. Why can't you see? **Damn it, why are you making this into too much of a mess?**"

"This is _your_ life," I whispered. "I don't… you're a… I'm not even…"

"**You're **_**me**_** and I'm** _**you**_," Sakura said firmly, locking eyes with me. "**Do you doubt that?**"

I stared at her, at her unwavering confidence in that one statement. "No."

"**Do you regret the things you've done?**"

"… No."

"**Then don't regret things you have no control over**," Sakura scolded me. "If I wanted to, I could have taken my body back at the funeral, but I didn't."

My eyes snapped up to her. "Is this… is all of this because of…?"

"**And so what if it is?**" Sakura challenged. "**It doesn't change the fact that we're still melding toge**ther. That soon, days—or maybe even hours—we'll be the same person."

"Aren't you scared?"

Sakura shook her head. "**No.** Not of this."

"Don't you hate me?"

"**Not anymore**."

I closed my eyes, feeling more wretched than I have before. All this time… All this time she was here inside of me. Watching me. Listening to me. Encouraging _me_. When I should have been comforting _her_. This was her life. This was her body. And I was just a stranger who waltzed on in and took it all. She should hate me. She should loathe me.

"**I can hear you thinking you know**," Sakura drawled, her fierce gaze softening. "I don't hate you. Do you know why you're here?"

"In this world? No."

"**Neither do I**," Sakura murmured. "**I… I believe there was a reason. Not like someone just decided to change things for the better and plop you here reason but… a different reason. We're** from two different worlds—parallel worlds, almost. And you can't deny we do kind of look alike. I think… maybe we already are the same person. **Same soul, almost… just existing in two different planes. I think when you died… for whatever reason you were drawn to your other self. To me.**"

"Seems pretty farfetched," I observed.

"**Got a better idea?**" Sakura retorted.

"None. I haven't put any thought into that whatsoever."

She sighed. "I **know**."

I swallowed roughly. "Are you… are you sure this is okay?"

"**Yes**," Sakura said, reaching out her own hand towards mine. I grasped it, squeezing it softly.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

"**I know**," Sakura replied. "**But if you really want to make it up to me. Promise me you'll give them a better life. Promise me you'll give **_**us**_** a better life.**"

"I swear," I vowed, my heart constricting. I swallowed again, trying hard to push back the tears that pricked at my eyes. This was so wrong. This was _so, so_ wrong. I shouldn't… this shouldn't be allowed. This was _so, so, so_ wrong.

She glowered at me before her other hand snaked out and landed a vicious blow against my cheek. I winced, clutching the throbbing bruise. "_Ouch!_"

"**I'll kick your ass if you start thinking more of that shit**," Sakura snarled. "**I **_**like**_** this outcome**."

I stared at her, her bright green eyes flashing brilliantly, defiantly and honestly. I knew she did. She wanted this to happen. She was ready for this to happen. But I still felt horrible about it.

But I wouldn't protest. I would swallow those down and bare it for her. I wouldn't let her down. I would _not_ disappoint her.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered again, unable to help myself for these last few words.

"**I know**," Sakura said softly. "**Now go back to It**achi. He's almost done."

I only nodded, rubbing my eyes in a furious attempt to push back my emotions. I would be strong for her. I had to be.

"Alright… I'm…"

She gave me a light push, causing me to start floating away. She smiled. At that moment it was the most beautiful and heart wrenching smile I had ever seen.

"**I know. Just don't break your promise to me, ne, Lilly-chan?**"

I ducked my head at the name, rubbing my eyes more so and biting my lip. I would not cry. I would not cry. I didn't care that I felt like the worst, most horrible person in the world for this. I didn't care that guilt gnawed away at me. I didn't. I didn't I didn'tIdidn'tIdidn't_OhGodI'msosorry_.

But Sakura just smiled at me. A smile that a parent might give to a child when their child was in need of comfort.

_Forgive me_.

**I already have.**

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

I drifted back to Itachi, just in time to see the last moments of Sakura and myself replaying before him. I wiped my eyes, schooling my features and pushing my emotions even further into me until I just couldn't feel them anymore.

I stared at Itachi.

Itachi stared at me, his face openly stating his shock. "You…"

"Yes."

"And this world…"

"Yes."

"Naruto and Sasuke…"

"Yes."

"… I… honestly don't know what to say," Itachi confessed.

"There's not much you can really say to that," I pointed out.

"That's true," Itachi noted. "I… see your reasoning."

"And?"

"I do not want to harm Konoha or Sasuke. You know that. Therefore you know my answer."

"Coolness. Can you pull two people in Tsukuyomi? Zetsu is still going to be out there."

"No. I apologize. But it would appear we will just have to be careful."

"Works for me," I decided.

Itachi paused. "It is not healthy to keep everything bottled up."

"I know."

"It will come out."

"I know."

"Can you handle it though?"

"Only one way to find out," I murmured.

"I suppose… how… did you take it? Them… dying. I mean."

I stared at him incredulously.

"I saw the memories. But I didn't understand your reaction. You do not have to tell me. I am simply curious."

"I don't," I began slowly, "know what caused them to leave, that day. In the anime, they were both there for Sakura. When she left for the academy, that day. They weren't for me. They were gone. They didn't come back until the finals in the Chūnin exams. I only met them for a total of ten minutes maybe, and I was so exhausted from training I barely spared them a glance. They died in the invasion."

Itachi stared at me.

"I didn't know them," I whispered. "They weren't my parents. They were hers. But they were not mine. Or maybe they were. I have memories of them. At the funeral, I got all the memories of them then but it was too late. I couldn't tell them I loved them for Sakura. I couldn't even spare them the time of day and then they were gone. What was I supposed to feel?"

"I do not know," Itachi replied.

"I don't either," I confessed, glancing away. "It doesn't matter anymore. I'm an orphan in this world now and have been for a while."

"You miss them."

I closed my eyes. "I have memories of them. They remind me of my own. Yes. I miss them. I miss them very much. But at the same time…"

Itachi glanced away.

"… I really couldn't care less."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

**(Third Person POV – Clone Sakura)**

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata called out as Naruto crashed into the pond, her eyes round with worry. Naruto popped back up soon enough, glaring at Tobi hatefully.

"I'm fine," Naruto said through gritted teeth.

"Hmm… are you guys analyzing my strength right now? Is that what you're doing? Boy you guys from Konoha sure are clever. But tell the truth, for a newbie, I'm pretty good, don't you think?" Tobi giggled again.

"You're almost as amazing as Kisame-sama," Sakura said.

Tobi giggled. "Wow-oh-wow. Considering it's from you, little fan girl, that's quite a compliment."

"I know it is," Sakura agreed. "I would _almost_ say you're better than Kisame-sama, but alas I am loyal to him."

Tobi giggled again. "Why thank you! Well then, what should we play next, Konoha folks?"

"We don't have time to play games," Naruto growled with a grin.

"Shino, you didn't get a chance to help us out on our last Sasuke-retrieval mission. We'll be counting on you this time," Kiba said.

"Alright everyone, let's get this over with," Kakashi said with a glance towards Sakura. Sakura only gave him a smile in return.

"Formation B, everyone," Yamato instructed.

"Oh-ho-ho? You're getting serious now? Well then I better get fired up too then!" Tobi exclaimed, proceeding to do a few basic stretches.

"You jerk," Naruto growled, clearly annoyed at how Tobi was obviously not taking this the least bit serious. Not that Sakura could really blame him, considering his abilities and who he was. Still… Sakura moved to stand beside Naruto, gripping his hand.

"You ready, Kiba? Naruto?"

Kiba grinned and Naruto nodded his head. With a tight grip, Sakura hurled Naruto up into the air past Tobi.

"_Oooo_, so high, look at him go," Tobi crowd. "That's some monster strength there, Sa-ku-ra." When Tobi turned back towards Kiba and the others, he gasped. "Oh no! They distracted me with that throw and now those three are surrounding me. Oh I don't know which one to dodge." In that instance he also noticed how the rest of the group was running past him and on towards Sasuke. "H-Hey no fair!"

Tobi danced past Kiba and Akamaru, twirling around Sakura. Sakura grinned at him, chuckling as he said, "_Olé!_"

"I'm not a bull," Sakura snorted.

"Tobi's bad," Tobi sung.

"_Rasengan!_"

Tobi gasped dramatically, looking up to see Naruto inches away from him with a full powered Rasengan. "You mean you weren't a decoy?! You got me!"

Naruto's Rasengan slammed into the massive tree branch, leaving a wooden crater behind. He glanced around in confusion when Tobi wasn't immediately in sight. In that instance, Tobi popped up from the ground, kicking dust in his eyes. "Kidding!"

He then popped back in the ground, appearing in front of various members of the squad, swatting them with a stick to keep them from advancing further away. When he popped up in front of Sakura, Sakura grabbed his stick and grinned.

"Where the hell did you find such a tiny stick in a forest where the trees are no smaller than the Hokage's building?" Sakura asked incredulously.

"I brought it with me, of course," Tobi said. "Never leave home without my lucky stick."

"Lucky stick?" Sakura repeated. "I always thought goggles were the lucky things."

"Goggles?" Tobi echoed.

"Mm-hmm. Especially orange and blue ones. Or maybe those are the _unlucky_ ones? What do you think?"

Tobi stared at Sakura. "Unlucky. Definitely unlucky. Just look at that orange jinchūriki!"

Sakura nodded her head. "I was afraid so. Where could I get myself a lucky stick?"

"At the end of a rainbow."

"Is that how you got your stick?"

"Clearly!"

"That sounds like a wonderful story," Sakura remarked.

"Oh it is!" Tobi exclaimed, nodding his head emphatically.

"Tell me it sometime?" Sakura asked.

"Sure!"

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

**(First Person POV – Oc!Sakura)**

I opened my eyes, blinking dizzily for a moment before turning back to stare at an enraged Sasuke. I stared at him another moment before hurrying over to Itachi and latching onto his arm. Itachi spared me a glance, raising a single eyebrow.

"You were in a partnership with Kisame-sama. This arm was near Kisame-sama for a long period of time. I am so having a fangasm over this," I explained, clutching his arm.

"It even brushed against him," Itachi informed me, causing me to squeal. I had a feeling he was just humoring me though.

"What are you _doing_ Sakura?! Get away from him!" Sasuke snarled, glaring hatefully at Itachi.

I didn't bother releasing Itachi. Just in case he was actually being honest and his arm really _did_ brush up against Kisame-sama.

Hey, don't give me that look. You knew I was his fan girl.

"Sasuke," I began carefully. "Do you remember the promise you gave me before I left? I'm calling on that promise now. What I'm about to show you… give to you… is going to be hard to take."

"What. Are. You. Talking. _About_," Sasuke hissed.

"This," I said, tossing the very same scroll I should to Tsunade at him. "Do you know what that is?"

He eyed it with narrowed eyes. "An official mission scroll. Ranked… above S. What is this?"

"A very secret mission," I said. "That Itachi was _forced_ to go through for the…" My face twisted into a sneer, "for the _sake of Konoha._" I gave a dry laugh. "Which is a lie, by the way. It wasn't for the sake of Konoha. It was for the sake of a greedy bastard named Danzō." _And smexy-voice Tobi_.

At the name, Sasuke frowned and his eyes flickered to me in question.

"Read it," I said.

Carefully, Sasuke unrolled the scroll, his eyes flickering across the page. Word by word, he grew paler and his expression twisting between anger and horror.

Silence fell between us, his face conflicted with so many emotions.

"You're lying."

"I'm not and you know it. Why do you think Itachi really left you alive? To devote yourself to kill him? What kind of serial killer _wants _to die? And last I checked, Itachi wasn't a diehard masochist like Hidan. You know the real reason he spared you. You _remember_ the reason. You _remember_ his face as he left you there. You buried it so far into you, suppressed it so much you wouldn't give it pause. But think now. Think clearly. Remember. Remember his face. Remember the tension. Remember, Sasuke. Because you know it's true. Itachi didn't spare you on a whim. He spared you because your life means so much to him. He loves you."

"_You're lying!_"

"_Think_ Sasuke," I pleaded. "Think clearly for just one moment and listen to me. I know this hurts. I know this is horrible and I know it would be so much easier to dismiss it, but you have to accept this. _Think!_ Do you really think Itachi could have faked his adoration of you for _years_? Since he was _five years old?_ Was there _ever_ a point in your life before that night that you doubted him? _Think_, Sasuke, _please_."

Sasuke just stared at me, his face morphing into disbelief. "You're lying. You have to be. Itachi's the bad guy. _Itachi is the bad guy!_"

"Otouto," Itachi whispered. So softly, so quietly, I had to strain to hear it. But the raw emotion in that word… said everything.

Sasuke shook his head, his eyes wild. "You're wrong. _You're wrong!_ _Kai! Kai! Kai! Kai!_"

Just as Sasuke was about to pull out his own katana and jab himself, Itachi and I both lunged forward. My arms wrapped around him and Itachi stood above him, pulling his katana away. Sasuke shook his head. "You're wrong. _You're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong!_"

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I'm so, so sorry. I'm not lying to you, Sasuke. I swear I'm not. I'm so sorry."

Sasuke just shook his head, staring at me with such a horrified look, I felt awful for telling him the truth. I hated that he felt like this. I hated not being able to help him any more at the moment. What was I to do? What _could_ I do?

Sasuke shook his head, his grip lessening on the scroll as he dropped it and fell to his knees. "This is a mistake. Kaa-san… Otou-san…"

"It's not," I said as gently as I could. "I'm sorry. I'm _so_ sorry."

Sasuke was stiff in my arms, as if he just didn't know how to be held. And maybe he didn't. Maybe he was just so used to being alone. Maybe he just didn't know _how_ to do anything except hate any more.

Itachi knelt in front of Sasuke, his voice soft. "I am so sorry."

Finally, Sasuke's eyes dragged up to meet Itachi's.

"By order of the Elders and the forced upon order of the Third Hokage," I murmured flatly, my voice taking an apathetic tone to it. "Uchiha Itachi is hereby ordered to eliminate the entire Uchiha Clan, as the Clan has been accused of holding a coup against Konoha. To prevent a civil war inside of Konoha, Itachi is tasked with eliminating his entire family."

Hidan sucked in a sharp breath. Through the corner of my eye I could see both Sasori and Kakuzu were wide eyed.

"Is it true?" He whispered, still staring at Itachi. At Itachi's silence, his voice grew more frantic. "_Is it true?!_"

Itachi lowered his head. "Yes."

"They will pay," Sasuke whispered.

"They will. I promise you, if you come back with me you will have your revenge," I agreed. "I know this is a terrible shock to you, Sasuke."

Hesitantly I held him a bit closer. Just enough to let him know that I was here for him. That I would not be leaving him any time soon. I had a feeling he needed this, somehow. Even if he wouldn't admit it or show it. His eyes had glazed over but at my action his eyes snapped back to reality and darted between Itachi and me.

I cleared my throat and glanced back at Itachi before looking back at Sasuke. "I know you want to kill Danzō, and I promise you that you will get your chance so long as you come back with me."

"How?" Sasuke demanded.

"Danzō has violated a terrible law," I said, my voice once again losing its emotion. After a long pause, I continued, "The massacre could have been avoided. The moment Itachi discovered it and informed the Hokage, negotiations could have been made. But that bastard was a selfish, corrupt man. He saw this as an opportunity to gain something for himself."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked.

I noticed how my Akatsuki members had gone deathly quiet. All three of them were watching me very carefully.

"When a clan member has died," I said quietly. "It is the Clan's choice to have them buried or cremated. Duck-Ass, you chose to cremate the majority of your family and bury those closest to you, correct?"

"Yes," Sasuke whispered.

"But you never saw their bodies after the massacre," I said.

"No."

"That's because of Danzō," I said. "Because he took their bodies and he extracted the Sharingan from each and every one of them."

Sasuke didn't bother hiding his utter loathing.

"He violated every corpse of the Uchiha Clan in the worst way in the Uchiha eyes," I said. "He used this coup for his own selfish reasons and what's more, he _lied_ about it to not only the Third Hokage, but also the Fifth."

My eyes flickered between the two brothers. "Because he violated the Uchiha Clan, it is the Uchiha's decision to how he is punished. But he cannot be punished if neither of you return with me."

"Damn," Hidan breathed. "That's some fucked up shit."

"For once, I agree," Kakuzu said.

"I concur."

"Neither," Itachi said. "Does that mean you _are_ wanting me to return as well?"

I gave him a tentative smile. "You already know that, yes. I've already discussed with Tsunade. Should you return you will have to be on house arrest for awhile—until the um, rest of my plan takes effect. But it won't be long."

"You won't imprison him?" Sasuke asked.

"No," I said. "He was only following orders. However to um… _humor_ some of the other people in Konoha, you will be on ANBU watch twenty-four seven. But no, you will not be interrogated or imprisoned. Should _anyone_ dare tell you otherwise, you have Tsunade's permission to kick their ass and drag their ass to her office."

I shifted slightly. "That's the best arrangement Tsunade and I could get for you though, at least until… yeah."

Itachi inclined his head slightly. "It is more than acceptable."

I grinned and looked back at Sasuke. "So what do you say? Wanna come back with your big brother and kick some Danzō ass?"

Sasuke gave a dark smile. "I never thought I would return to that place. Especially beside my… brother."

"However," I said, holding up a hand. "Before I forget. Itachi, depending on how… sick… you are, you may or may not have to permanently retire from the shinobi world. Tsunade and I don't want you to push yourself anymore. As you probably already know from our… _talk_. I just want to confirm."

Itachi's eyes flashed and he gave a curt nod. "I understand."

I grinned. "Okay. Phew, that's a load off my chest. Come on you two, let's head back and grab Duck-Ass's team. Then we can find _my _team and head on home."

"Home," Itachi murmured.

"Home," Sasuke echoed.

I smiled.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"HANDS OFF THE IDOL, BITCH!" I screeched, kicking off into the air only to land with my foot connected against a very shocked face. Said face dissolved into water only to reappear as Suigetsu a little ways from me.

I paid no attention to him, instead I whirled around and tackled into Kisame. "Kisame-sama!"

"Oof," Kisame grunted, stumbling a bit from my force. He looked down at me with mild amusement. "Well if it isn't Sakura-chan."

I snuggled into his chest. "Hi Kisame-sama! I told you I'd hug you."

He patted the top of my head awkwardly.

"Wow, he wasn't kidding when he said you were a fan girl," Hidan snorted.

Sasori sighed. I had a feeling he wanted introduce his palm to his forehead.

"Sasuke-kun," Karin greeted. "What… what's going on?"

"Itachi-san," Kisame greeted with a grin.

Itachi gave a small dip in his direction.

"What's going on, Sasuke?" Suigetsu asked.

"There's been a change in plans," Sasuke said. "Itachi and I will be returning with Sakura back to Konoha."

Cue the dramatic gasps. Well, okay only Karin gasped. The others just looked between the two brothers with wide eyes.

"Sakura-chan, mind explaining?" Kisame asked, looking down at me and grinning.

I beamed. "I would be glad to be of help to you, Kisame-sama! Well, a lot of shit got uncovered and the two brothers are ehem… _happily_ reunited. Hokage-sama gave orders for Itachi to return back to Konoha along with Duck-Ass and I was to come here and fetch them."

"I could have sworn though," Kisame said, "that Itachi was a _missing-nin_."

"It's complicated," I said, blinking up at him owlishly. "I'm sorry I can't explain much more than that. Please forgive me, Kisame-sama."

Kisame chuckled.

"So what does this mean for us?" Karin asked.

"Sakura has informed me that you are welcome to return with us," Sasuke said.

"Return?" Suigetsu snorted. "More like imprison."

"No," Sasuke said flatly. "You will be treated the same as Itachi. House arrest, but as none of you own a home in Konoha you will be staying with Itachi and I are the Uchiha Estate."

Karin gave a slow smile.

"You're welcome to return with us too, Kisame-sama," I said—okay fine, I cooed, but whatever. "You can stay with me!"

A sharp pain on the back of my head and a sharp tug at my right ear pulled me away from Kisame. I gave a horrified shout. "No…!"

"Behave," Sasuke growled, tugging at my ear again. "That's inappropriate."

"It is not!" I argued. "Duck-Ass you jerk. How dare you try and ruin my moment with Kisame-sama!"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "We do not have time for you to fan girl over him."

"There's always time to admire Kisame-sama!"

"You're being unreasonable."

"You're being a spoil sport! You don't know the meaning of fun, Duck-Ass."

"Quit acting like a child."

I bristled. "That's it! Screw you, Duck-Ass. You can just stay here and I'll take Itachi back with me. Besides, he's hotter than you."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed into slits and he scowled at me. If looks could kill, I would most certainly be dead. Unfortunately for Sasuke, they couldn't so I lived.

"Wow, you two must really hate each other," Suigestsu commented.

Immediately, both Sasuke and I frowned and glanced at each other.

"No," We said. I raised an eyebrow at Sasuke. "Anyway…"

I turned back to Kisame and glomped him again. "So do you want to come with us?"

Kisame chuckled. "I think I'll have to pass on your offer this time around."

I pouted. "Okay…"

Kisame glanced to Itachi. "Pity that I'll have to find a new partner. It was fun, Itachi-san."

Itachi dipped his head, holding on the Akatsuki ring. "I hope you find your own peace, Kisame-san."

Kisame carefully took the ring before shooting us another grin and leaping away.

I gave a longing sigh.

Sasuke shook his head. "Suigetsu. Karin. Jūgo. Will you be returning with us?"

"I will," Jūgo said. "I can only control my demon beside you, Sasuke."

Suigetsu grinned. "Fine. I haven't been to Konoha before anyway."

Karin sniffed. "It's clear you'll need me to come along to keep Suigetsu under control. Besides… I'm sure having a… feminine touch around the house will make it _so_ much better for you, Sasuke-kun."

I snorted and chortled. "Told you, Duck-Ass!"

Sasuke sighed. "I know."

I smiled happily and moved in between the two brothers. I grabbed Itachi's hand with my right hand and Sasuke's hand with my left hand. "Now then, let's blow this dump!"

Sasuke gave me a sort of smirk/smile and Itachi eyed me impassively. Karin bristled at our contact but didn't comment. Suigetsu and Jūgo just smiled and off we went.

Woo-hoo!

I wonder if Kakashi would praise me?

**Praise-whore.**

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Dear Sakura,

Yes. There are times when I feel the pressure and there are times I feel guilt and wonder if someone else might have made a better Kazekage.

However I do not allow these thoughts to hinder me. It's imperative to myself and my people that I remain strong and do not waver.

It's a lot of responsibility, but I do not regret it.

Sakura, you are not a bad person. Failure is only human. Do not let your past hinder you, learn from it and grow. I have faith you will turn into a wonderful woman.

You're already amazing.

Yours,

Gaara

* * *

_HOW MANY OF YOU SAW THAT PLOT-TWIST?_

_Shit just got serious again._

_D: That plot-twist actually made me very sad. I like Sakura a bunch, actually. _

_How many of you made the connection about Sakura's awakening and her parents' death? I wasn't sure if I made it clear enough, hope I did._

_Well, in any case... for those of you that are a **bit confused about the whole Inner-Sakura thing** **please read the following. If not, skip to the next bolded words.** I'll try to explain it as best as I can. Sakura, was a young girl who was suddenly forced into her own subconscious as Oc!Sakura died and re-entered her body. Her own Inner self mixed with Lilly's subconscious and that is how the original Inner was born. When Sakura's parents died, it triggered her own awakening and she became the new Inner. However she had received all of Lilly's memories, experiences and whatnot, ingrating Lilly's own personality into herself. Because two people cannot exsist in the same body, Sakura resolved herself to being absorbed for the implied and given reasons she mentioned. _

**_No. I have no intentions of bringing Inner back. Those were her last words._**_Yes, it's sad. Hence the warning at the top. _

_Well, anyway... I actually had no intentions of giving any information on Oc!Sakura. But when I was writing this I just felt like her name needed to be said at that moment. _

_Itachi's right in that Oc!Sakura shouldn't just bottle up her emotions. She's been doing that since the funeral, all those years ago. _

_The reasons only part of Sakura's words are bolded, is because the bolded words are Sakura's voice, the unbolded being Lilly's voice._

_Pein-Invasion arc is next._

_This story is actually almost over... D; _

**_THIS CHAPTER WAS OVER THIRTY PAGES LONG. I think that's a new record for me._**

**_Answer: _**_Cockroaches, Acromantual (Giant. Spiders. Harry. Potter.), __Amorphophallus_ (Plants that emit a smell that is akin to a rotting corpse or meat-really nasty), Tobirama (It's all his fault. Somehow. Who am I kidding? He's just a jerk.) and flamers. 

**_Question: _**_Who would you troll in Naruto and how would you troll them?_

_Reviews are **love**._


	45. Plans And Movies

_"Don't you find it Funny that after Monday(M) and Tuesday(T), the rest of the week says WTF?"_

_-Anonymous_

_That explains so much._

**_Disclaimer: _**_Naruto is Kishimoto's toy. I'm just playing with it._

**_Warning: _**_Spoilers. So many spoilers. _

* * *

Dear Gaara,

If you could meet any three people in the world, even if they're already dead, who would they be? I would say…

Madara Uchiha

Sage of Sixth Paths

Minato Namikage

Reading all alone,

Sakura

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

**(Third Person POV - Clone Sakura)**

Sakura blinked slowly as more information was sent to her. Discreetly she locked eyes with Kakashi. He met her gaze. She gave a single, slow, deliberate nod. Kakashi's eyes widened and he returned the nod. When that was done, Sakura turned back to Tobi.

"It would appear Mistress finished her mission. It's been an absolute pleasure talking with you, Tobi," Sakura purred. "But it seems I would have to go now."

"Oh, so soon? Wait, wait, who's _Mistress_?" Tobi inquired.

Sakura only smiled, giving him a wink before dissolving into a pile of rocks.

Tobi blinked. "_Ooooh_."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

**(First Person POV - Sakura)**

"Okay we're coming up on them now," I said, trying not to giggle. Holding Sasuke and Itachi's hand while jumping through the trees on a giddy high was proving to be slightly difficult.

I had nearly caused us crash into trees multiple times and most of the branches were too small for all three of us to fit comfortably on. So we had to squeeze together when we landed or just go one by one which was even worse because Sasuke would _yank_ my arm and force me to lose my balance.

Thankfully Itachi was a gentleman so he caught me. Multiple times.

But I had to admit it _was_ fun. Or maybe that was just me 'cause I was still giddy from my victory and bringing Sasuke _and_ Itachi back.

The three of us burst through the clearing, and I grinned so widely.

Kakashi, Hinata, Naruto, Kiba, Yamato, Sai, Shino and… ooh, Tobi, all looked up at us. I sucked in a deep breath before I shouted at the top of my lungs.

"I've officially kidnapped Itachi and Duck-Ass! You're all welcome!"

Sasuke snorted and we landed into the clearing.

Suigetsu and the others landed a little behind us.

"Momma… what are you doing with Itachi?" Naruto demanded. "Furthermore... weren't you just here?"

I smiled at Itachi. "I'm bringing him home, of course. And nah, I left behind a clone with you guys."

"He's an S-Ranked criminal," Kiba growled.

"Kiba. Naruto," Kakashi said sternly. "Sakura's mission is different than ours. She knows what she's doing. Besides, we have more important things to worry about."

Naruto stared at Sasuke in disbelief.

I winked at Naruto. "I told you Momma would make it all better."

Naruto turned to me. "I love you."

"I love you too sweetie," I replied.

Sasuke just stared at us incredulously.

With that being said, I looked up at Tobi who had Zetsu appear beside him.

"Hey there honey," I cooed. Tobi tilted his head at me.

"All this time Tobi was talking with a _rock_," Tobi sighed.

"Don't feel bad," I consoled. "I would have talked with you in person but I had to bring these two back with me. Sorry dear. We can always talk some other time."

Tobi tilted his head in the other direction, listening keenly as Zetsu spoke to him in a quiet tone. When Zetsu was finished, Tobi stared at me.

"I might have to take you up on that offer," Tobi giggled.

I blinked, suddenly feeling _very_ unsure about Tobi. He _was_ the antagonist. "So long as you promise to tell me the Rainbow-Stick story."

Sasuke blinked slowly at me. "Have you, by chance, gone even _more_ insane since I left?"

Just as I was about to respond, Kakashi spoke.

"Sakura," Kakashi said, glancing over at me, his eye questioning. I gave a slow nod, a confirmation. Kakashi nodded again. "Team, we have what we came for, we're leaving."

"Understood!"

"What?" Kiba demanded. "That's... That's Uchiha Itachi? What the hell is going on?"

"Kakashi..." Yamato began hesitantly, staring at us.

"Enough. Questions later. We're going," Kakashi ordered.

I grinned and squeezed both of the Uchiha's hands. "Come on boys. Let's go home. Oh, and Tobi!"

I shouldn't. I _really_ shouldn't. It would be a mistake, a stupid mistake but I just _really_ wanted to.

"Don't you just _love_ cave ins?"

I then turned around to the most questioning gaze Sasuke held, and the slightly exasperated gaze of Itachi. I looked back at the rest of the team and smiled. "We going or what?"

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Itachi, Sasuke, Kakashi, Jiraiya, Tsunade and I all stood in her office. Or well, we stood and Tsunade sat at her desk. We had just finished debriefing ourselves over the mission.

Tsunade gave a curt nod. "Mission complete. Excellent work, Sakura."

I smiled happily.

Tsunade motioned for Itachi to step closer. Itachi moved forward and Tsunade stood up from her desk. She placed a glowing hand over his eyes and frowned thoughtfully. I leaned forward.

"Is there anything you can do for him?" I asked.

Tsunade retracted her hand. "The damage to the eyes will take extensive work. I'm not sure if I can undo the damage done but I know I can stop it, so long as you do not use your Mangyeko Sharingan anymore. In the meantime I'll find you a prescription for temporary glasses. You can switch to contacts if you want later."

Itachi gave a small dip of his head.

"So the Sharingan does have its drawbacks," Sasori mused. "To think it could cause blindness and we never figured it out."

"As for your… illness," Tsunade hesitated. "Sakura has given me a very detailed report on it."

Sasuke gave a small frown and glanced at me, his gaze questioning.

I smiled. "I know things."

"Aint that the truth," Hidan snorted.

"It's just scratching the surface," Kakuzu muttered.

Tsunade eyed Itachi thoughtfully. "I have already begun a basic diagnosis and possible cures. I cannot guarantee anything but I will try my hardest. I will need blood, however. I'll stop by the Uchiha estate later today to draw the blood."

Tsunade exchanged a glance with Jiraiya before turning back to the Uchiha brothers. "Naruto will escort both of you back to the estate. For the moment, Itachi, should anyone question what you are doing here you tell them to take it up with me. Sasuke and Itachi both of you are on temporary house arrest until we can better sort this out."

Sasuke and Itachi nodded, though Sasuke's nod was a little more reluctant.

"Your… _team_ will be staying with you in the estate," Tsunade said. "ANBU has already escorted them there and will be watching the both of you for a while. These are only the ANBU I trust the most, but if any of them give you trouble, inform me. That is all."

"Actually," I said, speaking up. "May Itachi stay for a bit? I wish to discuss something with you and I think he should hear."

Tsunade gave a small nod. "Sasuke. Dismissed."

Sasuke eyed me warily before leaving the office, only to find a grinning Naruto waiting for him with a balled up fist.

I had a feeling Naruto was going to punch Sasuke. It was just their relationship.

The door shut and Jiraiya performed a quick handseal, making sure no one would be able to listen or see into the room.

Jiraiya pulled out two vials and handed one to Itachi and one to Tsunade.

"This…" I paused. "is going to be a bit difficult to grasp."

"Tsunade," Jiraiya said. "In two week Pein, the leader of the Akatsuki, will attack Konoha."

Tsunade tensed, alongside Itachi and Kakashi.

"What?" Tsunade demanded.

Jiraiya held up his hands. "That is the crucial point of this matter. Everything we will be discussing now will lead up to that point. Do not dismiss any of it, no matter how ludicrous it sounds. Sakura."

At his cue I cleared my throat, drawing everyone's attention. "Hi. Well, Tsuande-sama, as you know I broke into Danzō's home and stole the scroll. What I never explained is _why_ I did it. I had no possible way of knowing about the massacre beforehand, right?"

"That is correct," Tsuande said.

"Well, if I was _normal_ I wouldn't have been able to tell you such things, but I'm not normal. I can see into the future, kind of."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow.

"It's true," Jiraiya cut in. "Sakura has proven this time and time again. She can do more than see a future though, she can see into the past. That's how she knew about the massacre. It's how she's known a lot of things."

"Impossible," Tsunade said.

"I thought so too," Kakashi said. "But how else can you explain what she does?"

"I've never heard of such a kekkai genkai," Tsunade said.

"It's not a kekkai genkai, only I can do it," I said. Itachi glanced at me, his gaze searching. I returned his gaze evenly, hoping he wouldn't exactly explain _how_ I knew everything. He had seen all of my memories concerning this world so he knew the reason I had for keeping it a secret. I really didn't want to be sent off to T&I so soon.

Itachi blinked then gave me a slow nod before he looked away.

Tsunade swung her gaze over to me. "You can see into the future."

"I can see into _a_ future," I corrected. "Every night I dream about the entire… time line of a single future. It replays repeatedly in my head so I know exactly what to expect the next day. But it's only showing _one_ future. A really sad future." I shifted again. "I didn't like that future so I've been trying to change it."

"How?" Tsunade asked.

"Save lives, take lives," I mumbled. "The usual. At first only Shisho knew about it, since I had tagged along with him to grab you. Kakashi only found out recently and I kind of had to tell Itachi about it but now I'm telling you."

"So only five people know?" Tsunade murmured.

I hesitated. "Not exactly."

Tsunade's eyes snapped towards mine. "Explain."

"Well," I said. "I told you I saved lives. Important lives. Lives that I value very much and people that are very important to me. But… well… you and a few others would disagree so I kind of didn't tell you."

"Are you trying to tell me you've been saving illegal lives?" Tsunade asked dryly.

"Technically no," I said. "Gaara released one into _my_ custody. The other two were ordered to be killed and thus I was able to legally capture them." I shrugged.

Tsunade's eyes narrowed. "Where are they?"

"Well," I said again. "_Technically_ they're in the Spirit Prison. A prison designed by the Salamanders…" I gave them a quick explanation about said prison.

When I was done Tsunade stared at me. "That is a very useful prison."

"It is," I agreed. "So while we're still on the subject… if you would two inject yourselves with the vials you'll be able to see and hear them too."

Itachi carefully injected himself and Tsunade eyed the vial skeptically before dong so herself.

"'Sup big chest, 'sup blindy?" Hidan greeted with a lecherous grin.

Tsunade's eyes flashed dangerously.

"Oh, hey, look, I'm changing the topic," I said. "Back to the main point. Pein. I haven't told Shisho anything more past the part about Pein invading. I was kind of saving that up so I would only have to say it once."

I glanced around the room. "This is gonna take a while. Can I sit down?"

At Tsunade's nod I moved and sat atop her desk, crisscross. "Okay…"

**(*WARNING SPOILER ALERT! PASSED EPISODE 222 OF THE ANIME... although is it really a spoiler anymore? IF YOU DON'T WANNA KNOW, SKIP TO THE SAFEY ZONE BELOW!*)**

I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Pein is the leader of the Akatsuki. It is not his real name but the name he had taken. His partner's name is Konan." Jiraiya sucked in a sharp breath. "Pein's real name is Nagato."

Tsunade's eyes widened alongside Jiraya's.

"Nagato and Konan were orphans found by Jiraiya, along with Yahiko. Jiraiya trained them to be shinobi in order to look after themselves. When Jiraiya left them, he assumed them to be dead. That is not true. They had found a peace movement group by the name of Akatsuki."

The Akatsuki members frowned.

"They based this organization in Hanzō's territory though, a mistake. Hanzō had grown paranoid over the years and feared that this _peaceful_ organization would try and upstage his power. He worked with—oh you'll love this, Tsunade-sama—_Danzō_ to eliminate the group. With promises of a treaty and offer of negotiations he led Nagato, Konan and Yahiko into a trap."

I glanced around the room. "During this trap, he kidnapped Konan and used her as a hostage against Yahiko and Nagato. In order to free Konan, Yahiko—who was the leader of the organization—was supposed to die by Nagato's hands. Nagato couldn't do it so Yahiko forced Nagato to do so. Hanzō then proceeded to say how Konan and him were going to die anyway—yet another big mistake. This, along with Yahiko's death—trigged Nagato to activate Ma... _his _kekkai genkai.

"The Rinnegan," I said.

"The Rinnegan," Tsunade breathed. "I would have said impossible but…"

"Go on, Sakura," Jiraiya said, his voice nearly apathetic. It was a hard thing to learn three kids you raised turned out so horribly. One's dead, the other corrupted and the other following the corrupted. Poor Jiraiya.

"Before I continue on about Nagato, you need to know about Konan. She may not be the leader of the Akatsuki but she _is_ his partner—do not underestimate her. I don't know much about her jutsu, her entire jutsu are all paper based. She's able to rearrange her body into small pieces of paper and disperse herself over a great distance. I'm sure Shisho can better explain her abilities as he was the one who trained her… she will be a concern but she isn't the biggest concern. She's loyal to Nagato and Nagato alone. But moving back to Nagato…

"Nagato became… detached. He was devastated by the betrayal and hurt by the death of his beloved friend. He believed the traumas he experienced in his youth had enlightened him to the true meaning of pain. Because of this he views himself as a god, and hence the name," I snorted.

"Nagato became the new leader of the Akatsuki. Under the influence of Tobi he gathered new members to create a new goal," I said. "That goal ultimately being, no matter how hypocritical it sounds he _really_ believed this, world peace. Using all of the bijū to create the Jūbi and…" I shook my head. "Okay it doesn't really matter how he tries to go about this for the moment. We can discuss that later.

"Nagato," I continued. "Is able to utilize the Rinnegan very efficiently, unlocking a special technique only he can use for the moment. It is called the Six Paths of Pain. Sound familiar anyone?"

"Go on," Tsunade prompted at my pause.

"Nagato is able to control six bodies. These bodies are literally corpses with metallic rods inside of them. It's kind of like being a puppet master, I suppose. Only the rods serve as his strings and he uses his brain… or eyes, whichever one… to communicate orders. Each body has their own Rinnegan and they can all see what the other sees."

"Useful," Sasori commented.

I nodded my head. "The first one is his favorite one. The _Deva_ _Path_. The corpse for this one is… Yahiko. In fact, all corpses he uses are fashioned after Yahiko."

"That's creepy," Hidan said flatly.

I shrugged. "The _Deva_ _Path_ grants the user the ability to manipulate attractive and repulsive forces. It basically controls the gravity around objects, he can repell them away from him at a strong force or pull them in to him. However, there are two other techniques unique to this special path. They are _very_ lethal. The first is called _Chibaku Tensei_. In short he creates a black sphere of gravity that when thrown into the sky, attracts objects from all directions and pulls them into the sphere compressing them simultaneously. Originally he had not used this against the village.

"The other technique," I said. "Is the single technique that wiped out the _entire_ village. _Shinra Tensei_. With this, he is able to turn the entire village into a giant crater. No I'm not kidding. It's how he killed everyone before. Well, not _everyone_ but you get what I'm saying."

Everyone was watching me very closely. I guess I would be too. This isn't exactly the happiest of information to tell.

"The next path is the _Asura Path_. It grants the user the ability to summon mechanized armor, augmenting their body with extra limbs and various robotic weaponry. The possibilities to this jutsu are virtually endless. The corpse he uses is a bald, big man. He's the only one of the paths without hair so he shouldn't be that hard to tell apart…

"_Human Path_ is the other one and is virtually, what I think, the most troublesome. With this path the user is able to remove the soul of any target they touch as well as read their mind. This is done by a corpse with long, straight orange hair. He'll have three sets of piercings. One on the nose, and two on each cheek.

"The _Animal Path_ is his summoning path. This one is going to be a hassle, he uses the corpse of a Fūma Clan shinobi. His hair will be long and orange and held up in a ponytail. He summons multiple creations, akin to chimera that are very deadly.

"The _Preta Path_ is a defensive path. With it he can absorb an infinite amount of chakra in any form. The corpse for this one has combed back orange hair and a spike going out each ear. Ninjutsu is virtually useless against it.

"The last and by God the most annoying path... the _Naraka Path_. It uses the King of Hell—a large head which spouts out of the ground surrounded by purple flames, it also possesses the Rinnegan as well so it shares the shield of vision. The King of Hell has two purposes: interrogation and restoration. To interrogate the _Naraka Path_ need only catch hold of a person, causing the King to appear. The victim is paralyzed, during this time the corpse will question the victim. When it's done, the King will pass judgment. If the person was lying or refused to answer the question, the King of Hell would remove their soul and consume it. There is no escaping this, aside from telling the truth.

"What makes it _really_ annoying is the restoration. The King of Hell can ingest anybody then after some time the body will emerge from its mouth, completely rejuvenated. Meaning even if we managed to take down one of the Paths, this path will just bring it back up."

"Damn," Jiraiya said.

"You said it," I muttered.

"We have only two _weeks_ to prepare against this?" Tsunade asked, her eyes wide.

"Well, technically yes but _I've_ had years to contemplate this," I said.

"So you have a plan?" Kakashi asked.

"I have a plan."

I frowned slightly, my brow furrowed. _Though it's not exactly the happiest plan…_

But I knew the costs when I made it.

"First of all, we need to build secret paths," I said. "The paths need to lead outside and away from the village. They _cannot_ be detected by Pein so they _must_ be hidden. When Pein attacks we need to immediately force all the civilians to take the paths and leave the village with a few select guards."

Tsunade nodded. "I can have the paths built in three days."

"Gotta love earth users," I mumbled. "Second of all… while all of this is taking place Shisho, you need to take Naruto to the frog mountain and train him in Sage mode."

"Are you sure?" Jiraiya asked.

"Positive," I said. "He'll fully master it but it will be difficult with Fluffy. I suggest you leave in one week."

Jiraiya gave a slow nod.

"Now…" I licked my lips. "Here comes the… harder part. The Paths are all connected, as I said. It's useless to fight them in pairs, it would be better to run and evade. If we have any hope of winning this, we have to separate them and take them on with our own groups. Each group _must_ have a _master_ genjutsu with them—genjutsu is their only weakness."

I shifted slightly, my butt growing sore. "The first path that we need to take out is obviously the _Naraka Path_. Once he's out, the others won't be able to get back in. The next path would be the _Animal_ or _Human Path_. Human because he's the most deadly but Animal because he causes the most destruction next to _Deva_. If we can, then the _Asura_ and _Preta Path_."

"What about the Deva?" Itachi asked.

"We won't be able to win against that one," I said. "Only Naruto will be able to after he's obtained Sage Mode."

I licked my lips again and gnawed at my bottom lip for a moment. "Here's what makes this so hard though. We _must_ make sure _no one_ dies. Or try to limit the deaths as much as possible."

"Of course, but why is that so crucial?" Tsunade asked.

"Originally," I said. "When Naruto defeated Nagato and confronted his true form… he was able to persuade Nagato to change sides. Nagato then sacrificed his life to revive the entire village. We can't let that happen this time."

"Why not?" Tsunade demanded. "If he revives everyone then—"

"Because then he'll die," I snapped. "And that will be much worse."

"Why?" Tsunade asked. "Why would it be worse if the leader of the Akatsuki died?"

My eyes flashed. "His name is _Nagato_. And he can't die now because if he does, more will die later!"

"What do you mean?" Kakuzu asked.

I shifted and sighed, my eyes trailing downcast. "He can't revive anyone this time around because then he'll die. If he dies then that… _snake_ will summon him again during the war and… it might be worse. Either some people die this time around or more people die next time around."

Itachi frowned at this. He knew that wasn't _exactly _the truth, but hopefully he'd keep quiet until later.

Tsunade locked eyes with me, frowning. "War?"

"Later," I said. "We need to focus on the invasion first. Back to what I was saying… I have an idea in how to preserve lives, which is why each team needs a genjutsu. In truth, we only need to buy our time against the Paths. Naruto will be able to defeat them all, of this I have no doubt. And if Shisho is aiding him this time around… it'll be that much easier."

"What's your idea?" Kakashi asked.

"Each team will alternate in buying time against each Path," I said. "I don't know who should be on what team, I'm not familiar with everyone in Konoha but this is the basics of it. When a member is near death or severely exhausted, the genjutsu user will cast the Path in a genjutsu and force the Path to believe they have killed the group. While the genjutsu is in effect, the rest of the group will flee. The genjutsu user should escape with them if they can, but if they cannot they can stay with the next group and flee with them. Make sense?"

"Yes," Tsunade breathed. "That's actually…."

"Brilliant?" I teased. "I know. Anyway. When shinobi are exhausted or reaching their limit I think they should join with the civilians and leave the village."

I shifted. "Originally you had sat at the top of this building and sent out all your chakra through your slug summon. Katsuyu had attached herself to everyone she could in the village and you had transferred your healing powers to her. I believe this technique will work well for the most part. However, when the _Deva Path_ approaches you—like he had in the original—and you refuse him, he will then begin to float up in the sky."

My hands clenched into fists. "This will be very crucial that you relay to _everyone_ to flee through the tunnels _immediately. _The other Paths will be evacuating as well so it shouldn't be too much of a hassle to slip through without them noticing. By the time the _Deva Path_ is ready, everyone should be outside of the village."

I shifted again and turned to Jiraiya. "How far can the Sage Mode senses reach if they were activated in the center of Konoha?"

Jiraiya frowned. "In theory… miles. Two max, but that's without specifically developing the senses for it."

I nodded and turned back to Tsunade. "The tunnels need to end at least two miles away from the village then."

"Why?" Tsunade asked.

"Because when Naruto returns, he needs to believe we're all dead and that Nagato has killed us. Nagato needs to believe we're dead also."

Eyes widened at my statement and I shifted uncomfortably. "I know it's a harsh thing, but it's the only way I know for sure that Naruto can convince Nagato. Only way he can relate to Nagato's pain and the only way…" _He can activate nearly all of Fluffy and see his dad._

I trailed off and cleared my throat. "Anyway, that about sums up the invasion and what I have planned for it."

"You said war," Tsunade said. "What did you mean by that?"

"Oh boy," I sighed, sagging slightly. "Okay… well, not long after the invasion there's a summing for all of the Kage—Kage Summit. Originally you were… incapable of going so Danzō decided to be a dick and proclaimed himself Hokage and went there himself."

I snorted and rolled my eyes. "In the meantime however, Duck-Ass was kidnapped by Tobi and pretty much became a tool. After he had attacked Killer Bee—the Gyūku holder—Killer Bee escaped but his older brother, the Raikage had thought him killed and was outraged by this and summoned the meeting. The meeting was to discuss the threat of the Akatsuki. Anyway, long story short Duck-Ass kills Danzō and Tobi shows up and declares war on all of the Five Great Nations."

I shrugged. "There's a _lot_ more to it but I would _really_ rather not go into detail for the moment." I got off from the desk and stretched.

Tsunade gave a slow exhale of breath.

"Why did you want me here?" Itachi asked.

I winked. "Because I have an idea where to put you during the battle."

Tsunade looked back up at me.

"Because you're going to be too sick to fight—don't deny it, Itachi—and you're pretty much our most powerful genjutsu master, I suggest you guard the civilians and the weak when they leave the village."

Itachi stared at me.

Tsunade frowned thoughtfully. "That's… not a bad idea. Not only would it implant the idea that Itachi is there to defend them, _if_ Pein somehow manages to find them…"

"Itachi would be our best bet off fending him off as a last minute thing," I said.

I stretched again. "I'm about to fall asleep. Spent the majority of my day clinging to a cloak for my life and now I had to give a long winded explanation. Can I go home?"

Jiraiya and Tsunade gave an amused chuckle. Kakashi rolled his eyes. My Akatsuki members only gave a cross between a smirk and smile.

"While I'm sure I will have more questions, they can wait for now," Tsunade allowed. "I will begin the tunnel constructions immediately as well as summoning up a few members of the Council. Members that can be _trusted_ to discuss this information and plan the teams. Hopefully by the end of the week we can begin drilling the teams."

I nodded and yawned. "Okay my beautiful Akatsuki ghosts, let's go home and watch a movie."

"Can it be _Scream_?"

I groaned. "Why do you like horror films so much?"

"I wouldn't mind watching _The Possession_," Sasori commented.

"Or _The Exorcist_," Kakuzu said.

I moaned. "You guys are so mean to me."

They chuckled.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Just as Kakashi, Jiraiya, Itachi and I left Tsunade's office, I shifted nervously. "Um..."

The trio stared at me.

I shifted again. "Um... Hey... guys... I think I'm kind of in need of some help..."

"This is about Tobi isn't it?" Itachi observed.

"I still don't see what's so scary about Tobi," Hidan snorted.

I nodded my head at Itachi. "Yeah..."

Jiraiya sighed. "What did you do, Sakura?"

"Well... I mean... it's not _my_ fault... kind of. But Zetsu was watching Itachi and I and I definitely admitted to knowing about Madara-it was the only way I could think of to grab Itachi's attention at the time-which would most certainly draw his attention... And my clone-self was kind of hinting about knowing his real identity and I just thought, _you know what? He already suspects you and will probably kidnap you, might as well go out with a bang, _you know?"

"What. Did. You. _Do_?" Jiraiya repeated, his eyes narrowed.

"I kind of, sorta, _maybe_ hinted at him that I knew his real identity. You know... _maybe_."

"Sakura, you didn't," Jiraiya groaned.

"I couldn't help it!" I defended. "It was just... just _begging_ to be said."

"The cave in comment," Itachi guessed.

I nodded my head. "So... um... he _might_ try and kidnap me... _just maybe_."

"He wouldn't try anything so soon if you're not by yourself," Itachi commented.

"What are we, chopped liver?" Hidan demanded.

"But Tobi doesn't know about you guys," Kakashi pointed out. "So it would probably best, Sakura, if you stayed with one of us at all times."

I smiled, relieved. "Phew. Thanks guys. So um... where am I going to sleep? I'm alone at home... physically, at least."

"You can stay with me," Jiraiya said. "For this week at least."

"Then you may stay with Sasuke and me," Itachi offered.

"And I'll try and keep watch over you in the day," Kakashi said.

"Thanks guys!" I gushed, relief causing my shoulders to sag. "That's a load off my mind."

Jiraiya grinned. "Come on then. Let's go find Naruto and inform him of his upcoming training. Then we can head back to my hotel and..."

"Watch movies," I offered.

"Yeah... sure..."

"And you trained with this guy for a whole year... alone?" Sasori raised an eyebrow.

"Naruto was with me. And besides, Shisho wouldn't do anything. He's not a pedo," I defended. Then I paused. "At least I don't _think_ he is..."

"I'm not!"

"L... Sakura," Itachi murmured, drawing my attention to him. "May I have a word with you for a moment?"

I shifted. "Um... sure. Guys, stay here please?"

My Akatsuki members snorted but complied as Itachi pulled me away momentarily. When we were out of ear shot, he went straight to the ponit, "Nagato wouldn't have been that much of a threat in the war."

"I can't say that anymore," I retorted. "I've already changed _a lot_ about the war by preventing you guys from being ressurected. I can't say for certain who Kabato would bring back anymore and I definitely can't say for certain that Nagato would _only _run into Naruto. Do you know what the odds of that happening the first time were? Now that I've mixed it up enough to place in new variables, those odds just decreased _significantly. _The Rinnegan is capable of serious damage. I would rather have that on our side now then against us later."

Itachi stared at me, his expression unreadable. "I see your reasoning but could it be that you are maybe too bias to really argue that?"

"I have reason to be just as bias against it," I snapped, unable to keep the rush of bitterness. "You know... How I feel. I've already murdered too many people with my silence during that invasion. The last thing I want is more deaths. I'm choosing the path that I think will prevent the most lives lost."

Itachi's expression softened almost. "I am aware, Lilly-san."

"Sakura," I whispered, my eyes closing. "I am her and she is me. For her sake, please refer to me as such."

"You are Lilly and I will not pretend otherwise when there is no reason to," Itachi replied. "I am aware of your stance and your reluctance. I just wanted clarification that you were taking the appropriate response."

"I hope I am," I murmured, my eyes reopening.

"As do I."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

**(Safety Zone reached. In Short: Discussed the Konoha Invasion Plan, Brief Mentioning of a certain War, and Itachi questioned Oc!Sakura's motives... and Oc!Sakura will be staying with Jiraiya then Itachi/Sasuke)**

"Hi honey!" I chirped, tackling Naruto to the ground and away from Sasuke. Naruto laughed as he fell.

"Hi Mommy," Naruto replied.

I grinned wickedly. "You know... I've had this urge to do something I haven't done in a long time."

"Be sane?" Sasuke offered.

"You have no room to talk, Duck-Ass," I retorted. "But no... I was thinking more along the lines of... _tickling._"

Naruto's eyes widened with horror as my fingers quickly dove into his side. He giggled a moment before bursting out into laughter, trying in vain to escape me.

"Don't fight my love via tickling!" I laughed, continuing to tickle him.

Sasuke stared at us.

"I don't know you. Either of you," Sasuke deadpanned before turning and walking away.

"I'll come for you next, Duck-Ass!" I called after him.

"Not if you want to live," Sasuke replied, not even turning back around.

"D-D-D-Don't leave me...! _Teme!_ H-H-H-Help," Naruto giggled.

Jiraiya, who stood a little ways from us next to my Akatsuki members, raised an eyebrow. "Damn I'm so glad I'm not stuck with them for another year again."

"Hey!"

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"What the hell, yeah?" Deidara demanded as he reappeared right in front of the T.V., just as I was about to pop in the movie. Jiraiya had gone off to take a quick shower and would be joining us soon enough.

I blinked. Hidan groaned. "Damn it, transy! Move your fucking ass, you're blocking the T.V.!"

Deidara stared at Hidan then looked at Kakuzu, then Sasori, then me. "What the hell? Shouldn't you guys be dead, hmm?"

"We aren't," Sasori said flatly. "Now move."

"Where am I?" Deidara asked, his eyes wide between a mix of horror and fascination.

I sighed. "I don't wanna explain anything more! Kakuzu, please, please, _please_ explain it to him."

Kakuzu gave a smug grin. "Switch the movie to _The Exorcist _and we have a deal."

"Hey!" Hidan objected.

Sasori shrugged indifferently.

"Deal!" I exclaimed, switching the movies. While Kakuzu explained I moved and turned off the lights, drawing the curtains to the already dark sky. I then moved and sat in between Sasori and Kakuzu on the couch. Hidan claimed the bag/chair on the floor at Kakuzu's feet and in the end Deidara chose the other bag/chair at Sasori's feet.

I lifted up the remote and hit play.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Dear Sakura,

Interesting question.

-My mother

-Sage of Six Paths

-Third Kazekage

Yours,

Gaara

* * *

_There's your tickle scene, one of my most loyal reviewers, as requested. _

_Oh Meh Gawd. I'm almost at the One Thousand Mark. (Reviews) _

_**If I reach the One Thousand Mark from this chapter or the next one... I will... write a chapter in which Sakura meets Kurama face to face for the first time... =D If I reach it from this chapter alone, I will also write, in the same chapter, pairing moments for the top three favorite pairings with my Sakura**._

_Er... I'm not sure which pairings that is, so you guys will have to tell me. Options are, but not limited to: ItaSaku, TobiSaku, KisaSaku, SasoSaku, SasuSaku, KakaSaku, GaaSaku, KuraSaku and... I don't know. D: _

_But, yeah. Up to you guys. ;)_

**_Answer: _**_I would soooo troll Tobi(to) by **(Spoiler of Tobi's real identity, don't wanna know, skip it) **Edo-Tensei'ing Rin and totally telling her exactly what Tobi(to) has been up to. I have a feeling she would _not _be pleased. I'm going for bitch-punching him. Or at least hoping. He's so whipped he'd probably let her too. D; _

**_Question: _**_Er... I'm running out of ideas. Most of you experienced some opinion in hopes of a romance for Sakura but didn't clarify who you wanted her to be with. Who do you want my Oc!Sakura to end up with?_

_Reviews are **love**._


	46. Building Tunnels

_"I will rise, but I refuse to shine."_

_-Anonymous_

_**Disclaimer: **Own. Nothing._

_**Warning:** Umm... Language?_

* * *

Dear Gaara,

I've been watching a _lot_ of horror movies lately. I truly and sincerely am going to be cursed to nightmares for the rest of my life.

But aside from that… have you been to the Land of Snow yet?

We visited it a long time ago when I was still a Genin, I can't remember if I told you about our mission.

Getting sleepy,

Sakura

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"What do you mean Sakura isn't coming with us?" Naruto asked the next day.

Naruto, Sai, Sasuke, Yamato and I (not including my Akatsuki) stood in Tsunade's office bright and early the next morning.

I grinned. "Duck-Ass and you have to work on your team work along with Sai and Yamato-taichou. You four need the most team work. _I_ on the other hand just work well with everyone."

"Oh brother, yeah," Deidara muttered.

"Quiet, brat," Sasori growled.

"Sakura is right," Tsunade said. "You four will be going to the Tsuchigumo Clan main estate pronto."

"Then why is Bitch here?" Sai inquired.

Sasuke and Naruto tensed. Sasuke shot Sai a withering look and Naruto sighed.

"Because I have a different mission for her," Tsunade said. "The rest of you, dismissed. Yamato, you can find the rest of the information regarding the mission in the scroll."

"Understood."

After my team filed out, I tilted my head at Tsunade. She eyed the Deidara carefully. "I take it he's Deidara?"

Deidara bristled. "What's it to you, hmm?"

"Nothing," Tsunade said dismissively. "Sakura, you, Kakashi and Itachi will be leading the construction for the tunnels. Each of you will be taking a member of Sasuke's previous team to better ease them into Konoha. Kakashi and Itachi have already been informed and are waiting for you at the Uchiha Estate."

I nodded my head. "Alright."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"Hi!" I greeted. Itachi glanced up from his conversation with Kakashi and offered me a polite nod in return. Kakashi mimicked the action.

"Itachi," Deidara said lowly.

"Control yourself, idiot," Kakuzu growled.

Deidara scoffed but didn't argue with his elder. I stood before both Sharingan users and grinned. "So who gets who?"

"The construction will take three days," Kakashi said. "We were thinking about alternating. You'll take Suigetsu first, Itachi takes Karin, and I'll take Jūgo. The next day, you'll take Jūgo, Itachi takes Suigetsu and I'll take Karin and so forth."

I pouted. "Damn, I couldn't hog Jūgo all to myself?"

Kakashi's eye crinkled. "Sorry, maybe next time."

"Alright, so where are they?"

"Right here," Suigetsu said, stepping out of the estate along with the others. "Itachi said I'll be with Sakura, I'm guessing that's you shorty?"

I chuckled. "Yep. We'll be overseeing the North tunnel construction."

"D-Rank," Suigetsu muttered.

"Nah," I said. "_We_ don't have to do a thing. We get to watch all the other Jōnin and Chūnin with the occasional Genin thrown in do the work. 'Cause we're awesome we just watch them do all the work and make sure they don't goof off."

Suigetsu grinned. "So does that mean _we_ get to have fun?"

"You dunce," Karin muttered.

"Hell yeah, stick with me kid," I said with a wink.

"Damn, why do you two get to have all the fun?" Hidan muttered.

Kakuzu sighed. "Why can't you keep your mouth shut for a change?"

"This is going to be boring," Deidara grumbled.

Kakashi and I exchanged a look. "You know… _Kakashi_, I can stop by my house and stick in a movie for you to watch instead, if you're going to be so bored."

"Why would he be at your house?" Kairn asked, her nose crinkling.

"Fuck yes!" Hidan shouted. "Better than watching shit heads dig a hole!"

"That depends, _Sakura_, what movie would you want to play?" Kakashi asked, a playful twinkle in his eye.

"_V for Vendetta_!" Deidara exclaimed.

"I haven't watched that in a while," Kakuzu murmured.

"I'm in the mood for _Equilibrium_," Sasori said.

"We'll be busy all day so we could probably squeeze in two movies," I said. "Hey, Itachi, Kakashi both of you could use clones to watch the movies at my home, you know?"

"You are correct," Itachi said.

"So would you?"

"I will," Kakashi said.

"I believe I shall as well," Itachi said.

"Cool."

"Am I missing something?" Suigestsu asked.

I smiled and patted his head. "Yes. But it's okay. You still have pretty eyes. Come on, let's go~"

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

I tossed the ball to Suigetsu who caught it carefully. Suigetsu jumped up and back before throwing the ball to me.

I caught it.

"So is it true you defeated Sasori?" Suigetsu asked.

"Yeah."

"How?"

"I poisoned him."

"Ironic."

"I thought so too."

"You idol Kisame-senpai, right?"

"Absolutely. Do you know him well?"

"Vaguely. He was higher ranked than me so we didn't talk much. My brother knew him though."

"Mangetsu?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Lucky guess."

"This is boring."

"I know. Wanna pull a prank?"

"I haven't pranked anyone in a long time."

"Naruto got me to a lot of them when we traveled with Shisho. So long as we keep the tunnel in sight—at least one of us—we'll be fine."

"Then what are we doing here tossing a ball?"

"Hmm. Good question. Let's go."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

The next day with Jūgo…

"You're adorable," I sighed, playing with Jūgo's hair.

Jūgo grunted beneath me, blushing lightly.

I smiled happily and continued to play with his hair.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

The following day with Karin…

I sucked on a red popsicle, thinking jealous thoughts about how my Akatsuki members at home watching movies and reading.

Karin sat beside me, watching me through narrowed eyes.

After another five minutes of this, I sighed and looked at her. "Yes?"

"Sasuke likes you."

I raised an eyebrow. "I like him too. He's a good teammate when he wants to be."

"Why does he like you?" Karin asked stubbornly. "He doesn't spare me the time of day."

"Because he doesn't like fan girls," I said reasonably. "Let's face it, honey, you're a fan girl."

"I am no such thing!"

I merely raised an eyebrow again.

Karin bristled. "You've known Sasuke for a long time."

"Okay."

"What does he like in woman?"

I stared at her. "You're asking the wrong girl. Why would I know?"

"Why wouldn't you know?" Karin argued. "Didn't you pay any attention to him?"

"Yes," I said. "But I mean... he's... _Duck-Ass_... I never really thought about... I mean I haven't even really thought about _anyone_..."

I stopped myself short, blushing brightly, as I considered exactly who I would want to be with.

Karin's eyes lit up, immediatley noticing the blush. "Ooooh?"

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"No!" I shouted again, rushing inside my home and running into the living room where my Akatsuki sat around the T.V. along with Kakashi, Itachi, Jūgo, and Suigetsu.

"Oh come on!" Karin asked, following behind me shortly.

"No!" I shouted again, diving behind Kakashi curling into a ball. "I don't want to talk about it!"

"Talk about what?" Kakashi asked, amused.

"What's going on, yeah?" Deidara asked.

"Sakura has a crush on someone," Karin said, smiling smugly. "She just won't tell me who."

"I don't want to have this conversation," I wailed.

Kakashi chuckled and patted my head. "Come on, if you just answer her question then I'm sure she'll let off."

Suigetsu snorted.

"Exactly!" Karin said. "Now come on, please?"

"No," I said stubbornly, folding my arms across my chest.

Hidan rolled his eyes. "Just tell her so she can leave and we can get back to the movie, bitch."

"No," I said again.

"Is it... Sasuke?" Suigetsu asked.

"No!"

"Is it Naruto?" Karin guessed.

"He's my _son!_ Of course not!"

"She likes Kisame," Kakashi put in mildly.

"Not in _that_ way!" I said then paused. "Well actually…"

"No," Kakashi said firmly. "He's too old for you."

"What?" I gaped. "Since when can you choose who I like?"

"Since now," Kakashi said. "And I'm sure Jiraiya-sama will agree with me."

I bristled.

"Well if she likes Kisame maybe her interests are closer to S-Ranked criminals," Suigestsu suggested. "Maybe her crush is in the Akatsuki."

Everyone paused at this, thinking it over carefully.

I flushed and gaped. "What the hell?!

Sasori eyed me with mild amusement and a smidgeon of smugness in it. "Perhaps you weren't really kidding about that _toy_ remark."

"No!" I said firmly. "I do not like anyone in the Akatsuki."

"Then who is it?" Hidan asked, grinning.

"I don't like this conversation," I said, abruptly standing up. "I'm leaving and I'm going to take a shower. Then I'm going to eat and go to bed. Good night!"

Cue the chuckles behind me.

"Well it's not like she'd tell us anyway," Suigetsu noted. "Who do you think it is, Karin?"

"Sasuke," Karin sniffed immediately. "As if it'd be anyone else."

"I don't know, she's been exchanging a lot of letters with Gaara," Kakashi commented.

Kakuzu sighed. "Can we please not discuss Sakura's love life in the middle of the movie?"

Bless that miser.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Dear Sakura,

If you're so scared, perhaps you should stop watching them?

I have been to the Land of Snow, once on a mission. Snow was exactly as you first described it to me and yes, you have already told me of that mission.

If you're tired, you should rest.

Yours,

Gaara

* * *

_This was such a filler chapter. I didn't feel like doing the Six-Tails arc. D: That arc just makes me depressed. I mean, really Pein? Really? _

_OH MEH GAWD. GUYS. GUYS. WE'RE OVER ONE THOUSAND._

_I LESS THAN THREE YOU ALL. SO MUCH._

_Okay, so first things first. As promised I will do a Sakura Meets Kurama along with three chosen one shots. This chapter will be posed as chapter **51**. Sorry guys but I already have what the other chapters are planned out. D: With this chapter will also a whole bunch of bonuses because I just love you guys that much. _

**_Answer: _**_Yeah... I'm not saying. ;) Sorry._

**_Question: _**_I have to ask. If you could pair yourself with anyone from any anime, _ever, _who would it be? If you don't feel comfortable answering that question, then what's your favorite pairing from any anime?_

**_But anyway because this chapter is crap and I love you guys a whole bunch, I made two more omakes to hopefully make up for the shortness of this chapter. Sorry again for the shortness but it had to be done._**

**_Warning: _**_Um... T-Rated stuff. Yeah._

* * *

"Can someone please tell us why we're here again?" Sakura asked, her bottom lip jutting out into a pout as she glanced around the disturbingly cliché setting.

"Leader-sama told us to meet here along with the others," Kisame replied, a thoughtful tone in his voice.

"Hn. We've already been here for nearly half an hour," Itachi commented. "They shouldn't be so late."

"Damn it, this is just like Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto griped.

"B-But Kurenei-sensei is never late," Hinata murmured.

In the crowded room of a dusty, creaky, moldy, poorly lit living room, the Rookie 9 along with Team Gai (minus Gai), Kisame, Itachi and Hidan stood, all of them with various moods about the setting. The only one sitting was Kurama who lounged lazily on the couch in between Sakura and Naruto.

"I'll go send out a clone to look for them then!" Naruto exclaimed brightly, moving his hands up to form his famous trademark handsign.

Nothing happened. Naruto's brow furrowed. "I… I can't bring up my chakra."

Immediately everyone else tried varying degrees of jutsus, the only ones being the exception were Hidan and Kurama.

"Took you long enough to figure it out, idiot," Kurama muttered. "This place has chakra wards around it."

"Why didn't you mention that sooner?" Sasuke asked, his eyes narrowed.

"Excuse me for overestimating your intelligence," Kurama drawled. Sakura giggled and immediately glomped him. Kurama remained indifferent to the glomp.

"You're so smart," Sakura cooed, hugging her other son close.

Kurama, pleased at the compliment, preened a bit under her attention.

"Oh brother," Naruto muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Where's the door?" Neji asked suddenly.

As soon as the question was asked, everyone glanced back to where they came through.

The door was gone.

"What the hell?!" Kiba barked, his eyes wide. "Oh _shit_."

"Language," Neji snapped, covering Hinata's ears with his hands. Hinata blinked but didn't bother brushing Neji's hands away. She knew her cousin was a bit overprotective of her. Just a bit.

"Calm down," Tenten consoled. "We'll just have to look for a way out."

"Oh Kami this is just like a horror movie," Kiba groaned, appalled.

Sakura paused at his, moving away from Kurama as she thoughtfully considered this. "Hmm… Well then we'll obviously just have to split up into groups of… whatever." She grinned wickedly as she latched onto Kisame immediately. "Dibs on Lee too!"

"Why Lee?" Ino asked curiously.

"Um _hello_?" Sakura rolled her eyes. "No chakra. He's perfect for a situation like this. Not to mention he'll totally die for me so my survival rate just increased significantly."

"You heartless bitch," Hidan cackled as Lee confirmed Sakura's statement by nodding vigorously.

"That's it, you don't get Lee because that's just not fair—_wrong_. That's _wrong_," Kiba declared.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Lee if you join my group, I'll go on a date with you."

"Yosh! I would be honored my little cherry blossom!" Lee exclaimed, rushing over to stand next to her.

"You whore," Sasuke accused, his lips twitching in mild amusement.

"Don't be jealous sweetie. I also want my darling Kurama," Sakura called, smiling at said demon. Kurama grinned back lazily, his ears flickering towards her.

"_What?_ The best choice _and_ the crazy powerful demon? That's way over stacked!" Kiba yelled. "If anyone gets Kurama it should be Naruto!"

"Don't be silly," Sakura cooed. "Can't you see Naruto and Hina-chan are already partnered up? I doubt Naruto wants a third wheel."

"That's true," Naruto agreed, smiling at Hinata. Hinata blushed brightly and smiled shyly back.

"_What?!_" Neji demanded. "I don't think so! I shall of course be accompanying Hinata-sama as well."

"Neji don't be a cock-blocker," Sakura admonished as Sasuke snickered at Naruto's crestfallen face.

Hidan cackled. "Bow chicka bow-wow."

Neji flushed as Hinata's face took an even brighter shade of red.

"Anyway, so then Hidan should probably join—"

"Hell no," Hidan interrupted Sakura. "I'm going on my own. I aint no pussy."

Sakura shrugged, undeterred, "And Shino's the only human who can put up with Kiba so they're a group then everyone else can be the last group." Sakura nodded her head, ignoring Kiba's cry of indignation. "Nice and large, more than safe."

"Aniki and I will be our own group," Sasuke said idly, moving to stand next to his brother.

"Troublesome, fine," Shikamaru muttered.

"See? Then we'll all split up and search for a way out. Last ones out are clearly dead," Sakura giggled, grabbing Kurama's hand and steering him and Kisame away.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"I mean, I've always wanted to learn but I can never find someone to teach me," Ino complained. "You would think it wouldn't be that hard, but _no_. Why is it that every time I want to learn something—it's always either unattainable or just frustratingly difficult?"

Tenten nodded sympathetically. "I know what you mean. When I wanted to learn senbon, it took me _months_ to find someone who was willing to show me the basics. And after that it took me even longer to get it down to acceptable level."

Ino sighed. "Why is it so hard to find a good senbon teacher?"

Tenten patted the blonde on her shoulder, smiling in a comforting way. "There now, after this I'm sure I can show you the basics."

Ino's eyes lit up. "Really?"

Tenten assured her, "Really."

Behind the two girls, walked Chōji and Shikamaru. Chōji was munching contently on a bag of chips, sparing a few glances at his friend. Shikamaru had been unusually quiet since everyone had split up.

"Shikamaru? Is something wrong?" Chōji asked his friend.

Shikamaru gave a dreary sigh. "It's just this whole situation is too troublesome. Honestly, it's so obvious that—"

Before Shikamaru could finish his sentence, the ground opened up beneath both boys and they fell in, too startled to even voice surprise.

And on the two girls went, completely oblivious.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"This is so bad!" Kiba groaned. "This goes against every horror movie survival rule."

Shino was getting a little on the irritated side. He had done his best to ignore his teammate since the separation of the others, but it was getting more and more difficult as Kiba whined louder and louder to grab Shino's attention.

After Kiba gave another moan of despair, Shino finally decided to humor him. "What are the rules?"

Kiba looked up, delighted that Shino had finally took notice of him. "They're simple enough. Rule no1. Never split up. But Sakura, being the clueless idiot she is, decided to skip out on that rule and _encourage _it. It's like she _wants_ us to die! Rule no2. Never leave couples alone. Thankfully Neji's with Hinata-chan and Naruto so those two are safe. Rule no3. Never leave hot girls alone. Again, thankfully all the girls are with someone. Rule no4. Do not _ever_ go into the basement or attic… _ever_. No matter the circumstances. Rule no5. _Don't explore_. That's just _begging_ for the serial-killer-ghost-demon-thing to just kill you. Rule no6…"

Shino suppressed his long sigh as Akamaru gave a small whine.

This was going to take a while…

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"I did _not_ copy you," Sasuke retorted in indignation.

Itachi merely raised an eyebrow.

The two brothers were walking side by side down a long, creepy hallway, checking each room as they passed it.

"Suigetsu is completely unlike Kisame," Sasuke declared.

Itachi only continued to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

"What?"

"Nothing, Otouto," Itachi murmured to his younger sibling. If Sasuke was in denial, then Itachi didn't want to be the one to point it out to him. He would leave that to Sakura. She seemed to love doing those things.

The two brothers stopped before a closed room before Sasuke opened it. The two peered inside.

A little girl with long, wet black hair that covered most of her face and dressed in a plain white hospital gown, smiled at them. "Do you want to pla—"

The door slammed shut and the two brothers continued on.

"Tell me again how exactly you killed Orochimaru," Itachi inquired, completely unbothered by the disturbing scene they had just witnessed.

Sasuke blinked at him. "Right. Well…"

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"This is so fucking stupid," Hidan muttered, his arms folded across his chest. "This place isn't even that fucking dangerous. Why the fuck—"

As Hidan had taken another step, his foot fell through the floor and he plunged into a rather dark and damp pit.

"_Jashin fucking damn it!_"

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

As Sakura held Kurama's hand, she smiled contently. Lee was bouncing all over the place, excited about the supposed date he would be taking Sakura on. Not that Sakura particularly minded. Lee _was_ a gentleman and if nothing else he could prove to be entertaining.

Kisame seemed content enough to walk on the other side of Sakura, ignoring Lee and lost in his own thoughts. Sakura wondered exactly what her idol was thinking of.

Suddenly, Lee stopped.

Because Lee was in front of everyone else, this caused everyone else to stop as well. Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"Something up, Lee?" Sakura asked.

Lee frowned, his brow furrowed. "I… I hear…" His face cleared up as he beamed brightly. "Gai-sensei!"

Sakura blinked. Kurama blinked. Kisame stared.

She leaned into Kurama. "Do you hear anything?"

"No," Kurama whispered back.

"Gai-sensei!" Lee exclaimed, turning in the direction of a dark hallway. "I'm coming, Gai-sensei!"

"Lee—no," Sakura said, her eyes wide as he fled down the hallway, ignoring her.

Kurama and Sakura stared after him.

"Fuck, there goes my bodyguard," Sakura muttered.

Kurama sighed.

"At least I still have my… _Kisame-sama?!**" **_Sakura screeched, turning around but not finding her beloved idol. "No!"

Kurama assured his mother by patting her on the shoulder. "There… there."

Sakura sniffled.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Naruto was having a bit of a hard time. Every time he moved a single inch closer to his girlfriend to take her hand, Neji growled. No words. Just a long, dark, growl.

"Hinata-chan," Naruto whispered, leaning towards her and completely ignoring Neji's growl. "Your cousin is scary."

Hinata's eyes were wide as she opened her mouth to comfort him but Neji beat her to it.

"Move any closer to Hinata-sama and I will castrate you," Neji growled.

Naruto paled, immediately straightening up. "M-Momma would kick your ass."

"I don't care."

"Fair enough."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"I cannot believe those two ditched us," Ino bemoaned, scowling. "And now look at me! My makeup is ruined and I'm covered in cobwebs. Urk. I need a shower."

Tenten nodded her head. "And I _really_ need to use the bathroom."

"Well come on, there has to be something we can use in here," Ino muttered, stepping out of the music room they were currently in and back into the hallway. Her eyes roamed down the long dark hallway before settling on a door labeled _bathroom_.

"There," Tenten said with a grin, spotting the door as well. The two girls exchanged smiles before hurrying the bathroom.

Both of them immediately crinkled their nose in distaste upon the smell.

"Damn it, I can't use the shower like that," Ino muttered, staring at the tub that was filled to the brim with foul-smelling red liquid.

"I don't think I want to go the bathroom in here anyway," Tenten grumbled, eyeing the tub warily.

"Whatever. I at least need to fix my make up," Ino sniffed, turning towards the mirror and whipping out a hairbrush and mascara.

Tenten stared at the tub another moment before shrugging. She'd like to get the cobwebs out of her hair anyway.

As the two girls busied themselves in the mirror, a ripple appeared across the surface of the tub. Slowly, a head began to rise up from the tub, two skinny hands and arms following up with it. Tenten, immediately spotting it from the reflection, gave a startled shout and bumped into Ino. This then caused the girl to smear mascara across cheek.

Ino stared at the smudge.

"Oh _hell_ no," Ino snarled, whirling towards the thing rising from the tub. "You did _not_ just make me ruin my makeup. Girl, hold my hairbrush."

Tenten only gaped as Ino then proceeded to beat the ever living crap out of that thing with her shoes.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"… And furthermore you mustn't be within a two feet radius of Hinata-sama. After having been virtually alone for so long with that undeniable pervert, your mother, it's no wonder you have such impure thoughts about Hinata-sama…"

Naruto was twitching. Hinata glanced worriedly at him and her cousin, unsure of how to approach this situation.

"… and as such it's my duty to protect Hinata-sama from every danger. Especially the dangers concerning you teenage boys and your hormones…"

Naruto's twitching was becoming a bit more violent.

"… so do not think that you can just get away with such treatment to Hinata-sama…"

"Agh! That's it!" Naruto exclaimed, opening a closet door and shoving the startled Neji inside it before picking up Hinata and sprinting away.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"What the hell were you doing down that?" Kisame asked incredulously as he and Hidan walked down the stairs into the basement.

"I didn't fucking mean it, fish-dick," Hidan snarled. "This place is so fucking old and rotten, it's amazing that it's still standing."

"I suppose that's… _really?_ How cliché," Kisame commented, staring at an actual _well_.

Hidan stared at it before cackling. "Oh Jashin, that's hilarious."

It was then that a very familiar little girl climbed out of the well and stared at Hidan. Hidan stared at her.

"You have seven days to live," she rasped.

Hidan and Kisame exchanged glances before they erupted out into laughter.

"I fucking wish!" Hidan howled.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Naruto and Hinata were sitting contently on a couch, Hinata leaning comfortingly into Naruto's shoulder and Naruto smiling happily. Even though Hinata was blushing bright red, she was quite proud of herself that she hadn't fainted yet. As Hinata looked up to Naruto and he looked down to her, the two leaned in—

The ceiling crashed from above them and in came two creatures that looked strikingly familiar to those from Alien Vs. Predator.

Naruto stared at the two fighting creatures before groaning. "I _just_ got rid of Neji and now this? What the _hell_?"

Hinata giggled, but secretly she was thinking the exact same thing.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Sakura sighed as she walked alone down the hallway. "Damn it."

Just as she was about to turn down another hallway, a figure caught her attention. She quickly turned to the figure, gaping.

"Oh my God," Sakrua squeaked.

There… standing in front of her… was… Uchiha Madara.

"Aren't you _dead?_"

"Aren't you insane?" Madara retorted, staring at her stoically.

The two had a small stare down as Sakura considered this.

"… Probably. Have I mentioned you have a very nice ass?" Sakura leaned around the Uchiha, staring openly at the part on his body.

Madara stared at her. "… I'm leaving now."

"Where to?"

"I don't know."

"I'm coming along then."

"Why?"

"I'm bored and you're hot, what other reason is there?" Sakura retorted.

"… True enough."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"This is the last place we've looked," Sasuke said, staring down into the basement. "I wonder where everyone else went to."

Itachi only gave a small shrug in response, already heading down the stairs. When the two reached the bottom they were greeted with a familiar well.

"… Really?" Sasuke asked, staring at the well. "I mean… _really?_"

Itachi peered down the well. "There's a ladder."

Sasuke moved to stand beside Itachi, staring down as well. "… Yeah."

Itachi swung his leg over the well before proceeding to climb down. Sasuke gave Itachi a bit of a head start before mimicking the action.

When Sasuke arrived at the bottom, he was greeted by everyone else along with their senseis and the rest of the Akatsuki. They were inside what appeared to be a monitoring room.

"What?" Sasuke blinked.

"'Sup Duck-Ass," Sakura greeted, leaning against Naruto.

"What?" Sasuke repeated.

"It was supposed to be a scary haunted house," Sasori drawled. "We wanted to scare you guys in honor of today. It seems that… didn't work out too well."

"Honor of… what?"

"It's April First, _baka_," Naruto taunted, smirking at Sasuke.

Sasuke glared at him. "Shut up. So how did you guys all end up here?"

"I followed Gai-sensei's voice!" Lee exclaimed.

"We went down the well," Kisame replied, gesturing to Hidan as well.

"I beat the snot out of Suigetsu because he screwed up my makeup," Ino shrugged. "So he had to come clean to not get his ass kicked."

"I was with her," Tenten said, pointing towards Ino.

"Trap door," Shikamaru muttered, gesturing to him and Chōji.

"Akamaru and I smelled them," Kiba snickered. "And Shino's bugs sensed them."

"Trap closet," Neji muttered, shooting a glare towards Naruto. Naruto ignored the glare, choosing to position Sakura between himself and the over protective Hyūga.

"N-Naruto-kun and I… weren't very amused by… Sasori-san's puppets…" Hinata murmured, looking very much like she was trying to hold back laughter. Naruto grinned sheepishly as Sasori scowled at him.

"Hey! You interrupted us. I had every right to be a little upset," Naruto defended.

"Sasori you cock-blocker," Sakura accused.

"That did not mean you could just rip my puppets apart," Sasori snapped back, still glaring at the blonde.

"I ran out of stabilizing chakra so I had to pop back into Naruto," Kurama said with a shrug.

"I followed a smexy Madara here," Sakura hummed, grinning. "Even if it was just Kakashi in a genjutsu. You still have a nice ass, sensei."

"So glad you approve," Kakashi replied.

Sasuke glared at her. "Have you no shame?"

"None."

Itachi sighed.

* * *

**Omake two...**

"This is so unfair," Sakura muttered, folding her arms across her chest as she leaned against Gaara.

"What is?" Gaara asked, turning his head to glance at Sakura.

"Everyone has an epic rival but me!" Sakura cried out. "Naruto and Sasuke, Shisho and SPID, Neji and Lee, Kakashi and Gai, hell even Deidara and Sasori! Ino isn't my rival anymore because we prefer being friends but still…! I want an epic rival!"

Gaara hesitated a moment before placing a comforting arm around Sakura's shoulders. "I am sure you can find your rival one day."

"But I don't want to wait too long," Sakura pouted. "I need to find my own epic rival!"

"Then I will help you look for one," Gaara replied.

Sakura's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Really," Gaara assured.

"Yes!"

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"Okay, so it'll have to be someone we know," Sakura concluded. "I don't want to be rivals with a complete stranger. But it can't be someone who already has a rival, who won't stand a chance against me and someone that I idolize or adore."

"You adore everyone," Gaara pointed out.

"That's not true," Sakura said. "… I think."

"We'll find someone," Gaara reassured her.

Sakura smiled. "Good."

"Sakura. Gaara. What are you two doing?" Sasuke asked curiously as he moved over towards them.

"I'm looking for my epic rival!" Sakura declared. "Got anyone in mind?"

"You can be Aniki's epic rival," Sasuke suggested slyly.

"He'd kick my ass," Sakura pouted.

"No he wouldn't. Just maybe maim."

"Yes, because that's so much better," Sakura said dryly.

"What about Temari?" Gaara offered.

Sakura considered this. "Mm… I don't think she'd be into that sort of thing. But if I don't find one today then I'm sure I can pester her enough to agree."

"What about Konan?" Sasuke asked.

"She's way too awesome," Sakura immediately disagreed. "And I adore her way too much."

"Well," Gaara mused. "What about A-dono?"

Sakura and Sasuke stared at him.

"A… as in _Raikage_?" Sasuke stared at Gaara incredulously. "Are you _insane_?"

Sakura, however, looked very thoughtful. Once Sasuke noticed this look, he rounded on her. "Are _you_… no… Don't answer that. I know you're insane but at least hold _some _common sense."

"Hmm," Sakura hummed, placing a hand over her chin as she considered her new epic rival. "I like it."

"No way," Sasuke disagreed. "He's the _Raikage_. There's just no way he'd agree to be your epic rival."

Sakura grinned. "Is that a challenge I hear?"

"No," Sasuke said quickly.

"I think it is," Gaara mused. Sasuke glared at the Kazekage.

"Don't encourage her!"

"Sakura will always have my support," Gaara said loyally.

"Unlike _some _people, Gaara-kun has faith in me," Sakura sniffed, looking pointedly at Sasuke.

Sasuke glared darkly at Gaara before scowling at Sakura.

"Come Gaara-kun, let us leave this nonbeliever," Sakura cooed, grabbing Gaara's arm and leading him away. Sasuke gave a sigh.

"There's just no way."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"Ah-HAH!" Sakura exclaimed to Sasuke as both he, Naruto and Kakashi looked up at her. "You're looking at the Raikage's new epic rival!"

"Congrats Momma!" Naruto cheered while Kakashi patted her head.

Sasuke stared at her in disbelief. "No way."

"Yes way," Sakura boasted, smiling smugly.

"How?" Sasuke demanded.

"Oh… let's just say that the two of us share a common interest…"

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Meanwhile the Raikage, A, sat at his desk, reading his favorite literature of all times. A rare, never released uncensored copy. This copy was something only someone very close to the author could obtain.

A's smile took a more amused twist. In exchange for allowing the insane kunoichi to be his epic rival he received special copies of her Shisho's work.

A chuckled as he read another particularly interesting part in the exclusive _Icha Icha_ book.

* * *

**Because the stronger the shinobi you are, the bigger the pervert. **

Kind of.

Well anyway, once again I'm sorry for this chapter but it simply had to be done for a better transition into the Konoha invasion arc.

I still feel bad about posting this because OhMyGawdGuysIt'sOverOneThousandILoveYouAllS oMuch and yeah... I think I'll probably post again Saturday night / Sunday morning.

**Also**, I've got a poll set up, as suggested by a few of my reviewers, so I can see as the story progresses who you would prefer. Or what kind of ending, I guess.

Less than three you all.

Leading Choices So Far -

Gaara - 29

Sasuke - 28

Itachi - 28

Tobi - 18

Sasori - 12

Kisame - 7

Kakashi - 5

No One - 3

Kurama - 2

Neji - 1

Nagato - 1

Hidan - 1

Ibuse - 1

Harem - 1

Write Out A Scenario For All Playings And Let Reader Choose - 1


	47. Break Down

_"Don't take life too seriously, you won't get out a live."_

_-Anonymous._

_Gawd, that's like Sakura's life moto. _

_Did I do this quote already? I can't remember. Oh well._

_**Disclaimer: **Last I checked Naruto didn't belong to me._

_**Warning: **Break downs and spoilers._

* * *

Dear Gaara,

I have a funny feeling we'll be seeing each other again soon. ;) Naturally I will be glomping you only this time… I want a real hug from you, Mister!

Too long has it been since we've hugged properly.

By the way… did you know Itachi gets _really_ flustered if you hug him hourly? It took me a while to figure that out. He tries his hardest not to show it but Sai pointed it out to me (he's really good at reading people apparently).

Feeling anxious,

Sakura

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

I sat nervously on Tsunade's desk, twiddling with my fingers.

"Would you stop that?" Sasori asked.

"I can't help it," I objected weakly. "I'm nervous. First Pein's going to invade then we're going to settle the original plan with Danzō _then_ we're going to do the Kage-Summit and-and…"

"Sakura, deep breaths," Tsunade said calmly.

"I'm worried," I whispered. "People are going to die here."

"People die all the time, yeah," Deidara said.

"But…"

"You're over reacting," Hidan said with an eye roll. "Seriously bitch, calm down."

"But…"

"Besides, from what you've said even if Danzō didn't violate the Uchiha Clan, by not supporting the village in its time of need he's committing treason," Tsunade said, smiling dangerously. "If Sasuke doesn't kill him, _I_ get to."

I gave her a small smile. "Well, there is that."

Tsunade tilted her head. "Pein should here within an hour. Sakura, you know what you have to do."

"Yeah, I know," I whispered. There are times like these when I wished that Pein's corpses were more like actual corpses so my zombie poison could work on them. But then I think about placing Ibuse near Pein and my entire heart stops and immediately rejects the idea. Ibuse is one person I would _never_ consider putting in real danger.

Still a little nervous, I stood off from the desk and began walking out of the room.

Shizune would be with Tsunade during the invasion, supplying her chakra into Katsuyu as well. Because of this, there would be no head medic to tend to the injured outside of the village. That's where I come in. Being the assistant head to the hospital seemed to qualify me for leadership. Especially when the head of the hospital—Shizune—would not be available.

Within the hour all medical supplies as well as all handicapped patients would be transported outside of the village to one of the make shift bases Yamato had constructed from his wood technique. All critically injured and handicapped would be taken to the northern base—the farthest base from the village—where I would be in charge. Anyone else would be taken to one of the other two bases—East and South and watched there.

It was unnerving having so many lives in the palm of my hands.

My only consolation during this was that Itachi would be guarding the northern base, as well as the fact my Akatsuki members were with me. Even if it they were with me with reluctance.

The tunnels we had created were deep and strong. Strong enough that even when Pein released his devastating attack they would hold, even if just barley.

They were dimly lit too, but I didn't seem to notice as I walked towards the base. The equipment and transfer would either be right behind me or already there. My was that they were already there.

Briefly, I wondered how Jiraiya would respond when Naruto released Fluffy.

I had told him the day he left to train with Naruto in Sage Mode about the rest of Naruto's battle. He was reluctant to not even attempt to control Naruto but once I explained how Minato was inside of it, he relented. He had decided he would be joining Tsunade during Naruto's final stretch in the battle.

When I reached the base I let out a slow breath.

It would be starting.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"Bring me more hot water," I shouted over the screams of agony. Thirty minutes into the attack and already we were full of shinobi.

Though most of them were only suffering from broken bones and thus unable to fight much more, there were some who were in actual critical condition.

Like the one below me.

A ruptured lung, his ribs cracked into it. He was bleeding heavily and on the verge of collapsing, his heart was pounding frantically beneath my hands.

I poured more chakra into my hands, my chakra forcing its way around his ribs and pulling them away from his lungs. He withered under me, screaming.

"Someone restrain him," I howled.

Hands of a nameless nurse held him down and I forced my chakra into him once again. His ribs cracked underneath my pressure but I would worry about them later. If I didn't repair his lungs like _now_ he would _die._

Someone placed a bowl of hot water beside me.

"Get a damn towel, and take care of his leg with the water. Where the fuck is the antibiotic ointment?" I snarled, focusing on his chest.

His leg held a long gash. Not fatal, but definitely painful.

His ribs were out of my way now. I pushed my chakra into his lungs and imagined the tissue repairing.

_Come on, come on…_

His heart faltered.

"God damn it, no," I growled, pushing in more chakra to not only wrap around his heart but still repair the tissue. I was losing chakra this way but at the moment I didn't care. I had to save him. It was _my_ fault he was injured like this.

His heart faltered again.

No, no, no…

My eyes watered and my throat tightened.

His heart failed him.

I stared down at the now lifeless corpse.

I hadn't saved him.

Slowly, so slowly, my eyes trailed down to the wet blood on my hands, the dried blood on my clothes, the blood, the blood, the blood…

So many dead…

_All my fault._

I had a second. And then I was pulled back.

"Sakura-sama!" cried a voice from another nurse a little ways from me. My head snapped in their direction and I stepped away from the corpse and headed towards the voice.

I didn't look back. I didn't have the time.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

**(Third Person POV –Jiraiya)**

There were many things Jiraiya regretted doing in life. But out of all of the regrets there were three that stood out the most. The first being unable to save his own teacher's and student's lives. The second, losing his close comrade and not being able to finish him off himself. And the third he had just finished battling against. Abandoning—even if indirectly—his own students and leaving them for dead.

No, he did not mean to.

But he had done it anyway.

Nagato was a kind boy with a sincere heart. Yahiko was a strong boy with a determined heart. Konan was a sweet girl with an open heart.

Now Yahiko was dead and Nagato and Konan were only shadows of their former selves.

It pained Jiraiya to see them as such.

On the other hand, he might have failed his past students but he vowed to himself to not fail his current two.

Naruto, the son of his apprentice and godchild.

Naruto who could grow so fast and so quickly it astounded Jiraiya every day. Who, once a complete knuckleheaded had matured in ways Jiraiya would have never expected. That despite the odds always managed to crawl out on top with a new, shocking plan.

He was aptly named Konoha's most surprising shinobi.

Yet despite all the success Naruto kept true to his principles and true to his heart. Something so rare to see in the shinobi world. His heart refused to permanently harden and turn away from others despite the horrible hardships in childhood he had to face. His mind was open enough to match his heart and with him, Jiraiya had no doubt, carried the answers to peace.

Jiraiya was proud of him.

Then there as his other student, Sakura.

The one who held the most interesting secret.

While she might not have been so adapt to learning ninjustu, taijustu or genjustu, her cunning and wit alone dominated her battles—whether she realized that or not. Gone were her moments of rushing in, in their place took hold of careful planning. Should one plan fail she had a backup plan, and another and another and another.

She never let anyone else on however, to her layers of planning. Another curious thing about her. Her mask was perfect. Shallow enough it never touched her inner emotions, yet deep enough it was sincere.

To the world she would always be filled with smiles and smirks. Amused at the world and its petty antics.

But to those who had known her long enough she would always carry her guilt and conflicting emotions. Some part of her, no matter how small, would always cling to the past and the mistakes she made in it as a mere _child_.

It saddened him to see someone he had come to care for over the years, be so distraught over her mistakes. But there was nothing he could do to help her. These were her ghosts to fight.

He could only watch her and offer support.

The last time Jiraiya had seen Naruto, he was being lifted into the sky by Pein and his miniature version of the moon while the Kyūbi slowly took hold of him.

Just as Sakura had explained.

When she had first explained the battle in great detail to Jiraiya, he was reluctant allow Naruto to fight Pein as the Kyūbi. But she adamantly pointed out it was the only way for Naruto to talk to Minato and the only way for Naruto to defeat Nagato.

It was still unnerving to leave his student behind.

But after checking up with Tsunade and double checking on Naruto—hence the last time he saw him—it was time to fetch his second student, Sakura.

Because Naruto and Nagato had no way of knowing that the village was in fact alive, someone needed to tell them—after their discussion—not to waste Nagato's life and revive the few that died.

The makeshift hospital was crowded. Nurses and medics were flying all over the place, carrying medicines and wrappings of sorts. Jiraiya navigated through the chaos, searching for a familiar pink haired girl.

He found the Akatsuki before he found her.

She was kneeling in front of a very mangled patient, bent down over him. She was facing away from Jiraiya so he could not read her face.

To her right was Sasori, kneeling down beside her and motioning to the body. He spoke in quiet tones—too quiet for Jiraiya to hear over the loud chaos of the rest of the hospital.

Kakuzu was kneeling to her left, seeming to be examining the body.

Hidan, Deidara and Itachi stood behind Sakura, forming an almost protective circle. Carefully, Jiraiya stepped between Hidan and Deidara, bending down to place a hand on Sakura's shoulder.

He frowned, noticing a very cold and wet feeling come to his hand.

His eyes narrowed as he examined her more closely.

Blood crusted the majority of her clothing—some dry some wet—there were splotches of the red stuff matted over her hair. She didn't seem to notice any of it though, she seemed intently concentrating on her work.

Though from the attention his hand brought, her hands stilled and her head turned back to face him. Her face, like the rest of her body was smeared with blood. Her eyes trailed up to his.

Empty eyes stared into his for a full ten seconds before life slowly returned.

She blinked tiredly at him and Jiraiya's frown deepened.

Sasori frowned alongside him.

"It's time," was all Jiraiya said.

She stared at him for another few seconds, incomprehension on her face before understanding crossed it.

She blinked a few more times, letting out a slow breath and glancing down. Her hair fell over her face, shadowing her expression.

Jiraiya gave her a moment.

When she looked back, amusement sparked in her eyes once more and she gave a smirk.

"Damn. Just when it was getting _fun_."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

**(First Person POV – Sakura)**

I stood outside the paper tree, physically alone and feeling very dirty. I had a feeling my appearance probably wasn't the greatest at the moment, but I didn't really care. I was too tired and much more, my emotions were a lot harder to control.

It took me quite some time, standing outside that tree, before I was ready to enter—and before they were done talking. When my emotions were once again carelessly shoved aside, I entered.

Immediately, three pairs of eyes snapped towards mine.

I gave them a sharp grin as Naruto's eyes widened and watered. "Momma…"

"Hey sweetie," I said. "Took me long enough to find you."

"Momma," Naruto said again, his voice rough.

"Hi," I said once more with a lazy smile.

"Wait, so _this_ is our leader?" Hidan snorted. "He looks fucking pathetic!"

The others were quiet, but I could tell they quietly agreed. While Nagato looked slightly pathetic in his state, his eyes still held an edge to them as they locked with my own. But they weren't quite as hard as I had assumed they would be. There was a light to them. However small it was.

Konan was beautiful as always, standing poised and gracefully at Nagato's side. Her indifference was clear but even I could see the small spark of emotion in them.

Suddenly arms were thrown around me and Naruto pulled me into a tight hug. I chuckled and wrapped my arms around him and hugged him back. I allowed him to embrace me for a while, and I allowed myself a small moment of weakness to hug him tightly back too. It seemed like he didn't want to ever let go.

I felt bad for deceiving him. But I would rather he be deceived once then risk so many more lives.

Perhaps I was selfish in that aspect.

I swallowed roughly as Naruto's shoulders shook. My hand moved up and down his back in the most comforting manner I could assume.

When that moment was over, I ruffled his hair and took a step away from him and looked at the Akatsuki leader. "'Sup? Done talking in here?"

"You are that girl… from when we were extracting the Shukaku," Nagato said flatly.

"Yep," I chirped, "and you're Nagato, supposed leader of the Akatsuki." I turned to Konan. "Konan, Nagato's right hand man—er, woman. Am I right?"

At their silence, I took it as a yes. "Excellent! Nice to meet you, I'm Haruno Sakura and I'm sure you're acquainted with my darling son, Naruto."

Naruto gave them a sheepish smile and I nodded my head firmly. "Yes well. It would appear that Naruto has won this battle and whatnot and that you're both a little worse for wear. I'm here to offer you two any healing services I can give as well as request you speak with our Hokage."

"Tsunade-obaachan is alive?" Naruto asked, wide eyed.

At this, Nagato's eyes narrowed minutely. "I destroyed Konoha. No one should be alive."

I smiled at him cheekily. "Yes you did but we do have survivors. Any who, would you be so kind as you talk with Hokage-sama as well as Jiraiya-sama… and me as well? Oh and technically with Itachi-san and Kakashi-sensei…"

"Kakashi-sensei is alive?" Naruto asked, wide eyed.

"Of course he is. So, what do you say?"

Nagato gave a small frown.

I pursed my lips. "They can come and meet you out here, on your turf, if you want. We don't want to fight, we're just here to talk."

At his silence I sighed. "You can hold a kunai to my throat and kill me if any of them attack. Seriously, we _really_ just want to talk."

Naruto sucked in a sharp intake of breath. "Momma you shouldn't…!"

I crossed my arms over my chest. "That's the best I can offer."

"We do not need hostages," Nagato said thinly. "Gather those you mentioned and we will… talk."

I smiled happily. "Excellent! Naruto, wait here."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Back with said group—only Sasuke tagged along for whatever reason—Naruto and Sasuke were asked to wait outside while the grownups (and me!) talked.

"… So that about sums it up," I said finishing yet _another_ explanation of my super awesome ability and explaining to Nagato why he didn't kill _everyone_ in Konoha.

Nagato's eyes closed and he gave a small sigh. "He will be most displeased."

"Tobi isn't usually pleased anyway," I said with a sniff.

His eyes opened. "You know of him."

"I do," I said. "Of course I do. Which I guess brings us to what we need to discuss."

Tsunade gave a sharp nod. "Nagato. While as Hokage I am _furious_ at what you have done to our village, as a person I am much more lenient. Had Sakura not intervened, I would have killed you where you stand."

Nagato eyed her impassively.

Jiraiya cleared his throat. "Fewer lives were lost than what could have happened. The only real damage is to the village itself but we had taken everything of value out of the village long before. The village is wealthy and repairs should be easy enough."

I snorted.

"For what you have done," Tsunade said, "should be punishable by death. But as I said, Sakura is very sure your death will only cause more misery and it is for that reason alone you are alive. However…"

I crinkled my nose. "However we do ask that you hear us out and cooperate."

"I will listen," Nagato said blandly. "I promise nothing else."

I smiled cheerily. "That's all I ask for. First of all, do you and Konan mind injecting yourselves with these?"

I handed each of them two vials.

They eyed it suspiciously.

"It's not lethal," Jiraiya said. "It only allows you in on a little secret. Something you both need to know about."

While they continued to eye the vials skeptically, Jiraiya performed a quick seal. At their questioning gazes, he explained it was to make sure Zetsu wasn't able to listen in or see them.

Finally, Konan made the first injection—I'm guessing it was to make sure it was alright for Nagato.

Konona's eyes widened upon seeing the rest of the Akatsuki. "You… Nagato. You must see this."

With a very small frown on his blank face, Nagato injected himself. To his credit, he didn't make any outward reactions upon seeing his previous subordinates.

"So our previous boss can see us now?" Hidan asked with a smirk.

"He may be our previous leader," Kakuzu drawled, "but he's more than capable of taking _you_ out, Hidan."

"Shut up, Kakuzu!"

Sasori snorted and Deidara rolled his eyes.

"What is the meaning of this?" Nagato asked.

"Okay," I said, "so as I said before, I saw into the past, more importantly I saw into _their_ past. Long story short, I grew attached to them and was determined to save them. So I did. Only to make sure they didn't… kill me… and to make sure they weren't taken away or anything, I put them in the Spirit Prison…"

I gave him a brief summary. "So, yeah."

Nagato blinked, still showing no signs of emotion.

I cleared my throat. "So back to what this was originally about… Tobi needs your eyes. Or at least one of them."

Nagato's eyes narrowed a fraction.

"If he gets one of them," I said. "We're pretty much fucked. Or at least, more so than we already are. So we need to make sure he can't get to your eyes or to you…"

"What are you suggesting?" Nagato asked.

"Sakura-san," Itachi said quietly, "is requesting you join the rest of the Akatsuki in the Spirit Prison until further notice."

Cue the tense silence.

"No," Nagato said.

I blinked, expecting that. "You need to. The Spirit Prison is the _only_ safe place Tobi can't get to."

Nagato didn't need to repeat himself, his silence and impassive face said it all.

Tsunade's face twisted into a scowl. "Listen here you—"

Jiraiya put a firm hand on her shoulder. "Let Sakura handle this."

"Let me ask you this, Nagato," I said. "Do you like war?"

Nagato's eyes narrowed.

"No," I said. "You don't. In less than a week _Tobi_ will declare war on all of the Five Great Nations. And guess what? He has a damn army ready and prepared. Do you have any idea how many lives will be lost because of this war? What about all of the smaller countries, who will be forced to become battlegrounds for this war? Do you want that to happen?"

Nagato's eyes narrowed into cold slits.

"Unless we can defeat Tobi early on in the battle," I continued. "Unless we can put a wedge in his plans, this war will escalate and escalate until even more die. If Tobi gets a hold of so much as _one_ of your eyes, he will become nearly unstoppable."

"So let me ask you this," I went on, my own eyes narrowing. "Are you _one hundred percent sure_ that you can defeat him when he comes?"

Nagato's eyes widened slightly, no longer narrowed. "Are you _certain_ you know _every one _of his tricks? Because he _will_ come for you if he knows where you are and I can guarantee you he _will_ get one of your eyes if he does. He won't give you time to go find more corpses for your technique and he won't let Konan interfere. At this moment, Nagato-san, you're weak and exhausted."

My eyes hardened. "If you can promise me that you are positive Tobi won't be a match for you, then I see no reason to have you in the Spirit Prison."

Nagato didn't say a word, only eyed me coolly.

My eyes relaxed and I debated on pulling out the bribe. In the end, I decided for it. "If you do agree… I'll make Naruto and anchor you can go hang out with him and pester him…"

A small light—emphasis on _small_—sparked in his eyes.

"He'd probably be thrilled to have the company," I said. Jiraiya snorted and Kakashi chuckled.

Nagato continued to eye me for another moment. "I request time to think this over."

I shared a glance with Tsunade.

"You will have until sunset," Tsunade said. "Jiraiya and Itachi will stay here to make sure Zetsu doesn't come as well as… well, you know."

"One question," Nagato said. "Will Konan be forced into this as well?"

I tilted my head. "She's not _forced_ into this but I would prefer it she came as well. Originally Tobi killed her, and she had _days_ to prepare for his attack. Made an entire _lake_ full of paper bombs and forced him to fall inside of it, trapping him. He couldn't escape or phase out long enough but in the end he killed her by revealing a very tricky secret. But if you want her to die, then she doesn't have to come along."

I cocked my head once again and looked at Tsunade. She gave me a sharp nod and the two of us—followed behind by Kakashi and my Akatsuki—left them.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

I stood alone at my favorite spot, moving towards the still pond. I had a few hours to myself before I would need to retreat back to the others and whatnot.

And as much as I wanted a shower and bath, I knew I wouldn't be getting one of those for a little while longer.

"Why do you guys keep insisting that Tobi is such a bad guy, yeah?" Deidara inquired.

"Because he is," I said.

"I can't believe you're trying to accuse that retard of starting a war," Hidan snorted.

"Looks can be deceiving," Kakuzu said. "At first glance Sakura only looked like an insane girl riding a salamander."

Hidan chortled at that memory.

I allowed a small smile to cross my lips before I found myself looking at my reflection.

My smile slipped.

Blood, blood, blood…

Plastered to me was dried blood, everywhere. I shivered.

_All your fault…_

Images ran through my head, faces inside each one. Not only was my past mistakes in them, but the thirteen I had allowed to die today. Six men, five woman and two _children_. All of them broken beyond repair and bleeding heavily, begging for me to save them.

But I had failed them.

I shivered and looked down at my hands—their blood covering them.

My hands curled and I shivered again, more violently.

I didn't want their blood on me.

_Dirtydirtydirtydirty._

Anxiety, panic mixed with hysteria bubbled inside of me. I didn't want their blood on me. I didn't. I didn't. I didn't. I didn't. _I didn't._

Not my fault they died. Not my fault. It's not, it's not, it'snotit'snot.

My stomach churned and I shuddered, chills spreading across my skin.

_All your fault…_

No, no, no, no. I tried. I tried to save them but they just couldn't be saved.

_Are you so certain?_

But I wasn't.

I shivered again and my vision blurred. I dropped to my knees and continued to stare at the horrified face in my reflection.

And it wasn't just their faces. The Third came to mind. Her parents. _She_ flashed through my mind.

All of them, broken and bloodied.

So much blood…

I tumbled forward.

Cold water greeted me and I began to frantically scrub at myself. My fingers dug into my matted hair and scrubbed roughly, not caring or noticing if I pulled to hard. My nails scratched and clawed against my skin and my clothes.

And on the Akatsuki watched, their expressions carefully neutral as the water of the pond became a diluted, scarlet, red.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

I shivered as I dragged myself out of the pond. Warm hands brushed across me, unable to really touch me but I could still feel them. I shivered again and curled into myself. Deidara knelt beside me, Sasori on my other side. Hidan moved to sit next to Deidara and Kakuzu knelt in front of me. Each expressions varying from careful neutrality to mild… some sort of unidentifiable emotion.

I shivered again and tucked my head in, resting my forehead on my knees.

I wasn't shivering from the cold.

No words were exchanged, no concern filled expressions, no worrying frowns, nothing. Just carefully blank, (sweet) numbness.

I don't think they could ever understand how grateful I was for them at that moment.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Dear Sakura,

I have an odd feeling we _will_ be seeing each other again soon.

I… look forward to the hug.

I can only imagine how flustered Itachi must feel but I must confess I'm still a little curious as to _why_ Konoha allowed Itachi back into the village.

Was it because of you, Sakura?

I still remember how you requested custody of Sasori. Did you request something similar for Itachi?

Yours,

Gaara

* * *

_And so Sakura has her first break down._

_It was bound to happen. Considering that she's just essentially been shoving aside her emotions, not dealing with them just percrastinating... True shit, I know people who deal like this. _

**_REMINDER ABOUT KURAMA AND SAKURA_**

_As I stated in my previous chapter, I won't be able to write that scene until chapter **51** because I already have the other chapters planned out. Sorry, but don't worry, I do have it planned on what's going to happen. _

**_AND ABOUT PEIN VS NARUTO AND JIRAIYA'S FIGHT SCENE_**

_I know how much some of you really wanted to see that and I'm sorry I don't have it in this chapter. D: This chapter was already too long and it requires a shit ton of motivation to write out a dramatic fight scene. Like I complained before, I'm not too good with them so it takes a bit. **I will do one**. And post it either at the end of the next chapter or as a flash back in chapter **51**. Just depends._

**_Finally... _**_There's a poll on my profile page to vote for pairings. _

**_Answer: _**_Tobi. So. So. Tobi. _

_I'm actually planning out two more Self-Inserts after this story. One of them the main pairing is Tobi and the Oc._

**_Question_****_:_**_ Best One-Shot you've ever read?_

_I feel so proud of myself getting this chapter done on time._

_Reviews are **love**._


	48. Too Much

_"8 planets,_

_204 countries,_

_809 islands,_

_7 seas,_

_6,000,000,000+ peole,_

_AND I'M SINGLE."_

_-Anonymous_

**_Disclaimer: _**_Still don't own Naruto._

**_Warning:_**_ Blood and hints of violence and maybe a swear word or two? _

* * *

Dear Gaara,

We don't have any gloriosa lilies here. It makes me sad. They're my favorite flowers but they only grow in really hot places.

Do you have any over in Suna?

Reminiscing,

Sakura

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"So what's your answer?" I asked.

Back in the tree, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Kakashi, Itachi and I—along with my Akatsuki and Nagato and Konan—stood and awaited for the answer.

Once again, Naruto and Sasuke along with a few ANBU were waiting outside for us.

"I agree," Nagato said blandly. "On two conditions."

I raised my eyebrow along with Tsunade.

"One," Nagato continued. "Naruto provides as an anchor and he is brought in on this secret. Two, Konan will leave a special clone and be temporary contracted with the Salamanders."

I frowned thoughtfully. "That way she can bust you out of there in case of trouble?"

Nagato didn't even bother to quirk his lips at my question. He gave a slow nod. "She herself will be joining me inside of the… Prison."

Tsunade and I shared a glance. At her approval I beamed happily. "Deal!"

Biting into my thumb, I summoned Ibuse.

__How may I be of assistance Sakura-hime?__

"I've got two people for the prison in a bit," I said. "But first, can you give me the summoning scroll?"

Ibuse tilted his head slightly before puffing up his body. With a very disgusting sound, his tongue slithered out and laying atop of it was a very nasty scroll. I took the scroll with a slight grimace before tossing it to Konan.

Konan caught it, remaining indifferent to the slime. Kudos for her.

While she signed, I looked over at Tsunade. "Do we wanna bring Naruto in now or…?"

"After this is done, we will fill Naruto in then take care of…" Tsunade trailed off and I caught her meaning. I gave a firm nod.

When Konan was done signing, a single paper crane came off her body and floated away from the others.

"We are ready," Nagato said blankly.

I nodded my head towards Ibuse and well…

I think you know the rest.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"Naruto," I said, "Sasuke."

Said boys looked up from their conversation and at my beckon, entered the paper tree.

I gave them a small smile. "It's time we let you in on a little secret…"

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

With both of those problems taken care of, there was only a single dilemma left. Truth be told, I would have much rather waited until morning for this but Tsunade wanted it done and over with before that damn bastard could act.

The sun, now long past set, and the moon fully raised, Tsunade called together the entire Council.

The head of each prestigious clan in Konoha, along with a few selected civilian leaders and the Elders made up the Council. At her summons, each of them gathered. Shizune, Jiraiya, Sasuke, Itachi, Naruto, Kakashi and I all followed behind Tsunade as she stormed towards the makeshift meeting area.

At her request, Tsunade had an entire clearing made for this meeting. Large enough it could have held a small arena. She then surrounded the place with her loyal ANBU and a few of her most loyal (and available) Jōnin guards. Among them I could see Asuma and, who was frowning thoughtfully at the situation.

The Council themselves were all standing in a sort of semi-circle in the center of the arena.

Torches were lit to surround the clearing as well as around the small semi-circle.

Tsunade strode across the clearing, reaching her destination in a matter of seconds.

Sasuke glowered at Danzō, not bothering to hide his contempt.

"What is the meaning of this, Tsunade-hime?" inquired one of the advisors.

Taking note now, I saw only one of the advisors were here. Homaru. That must have meant the girl had been killed in the invasion.

Much to my chagrin, I felt no satisfaction in knowing this.

I frowned at that.

Tsunade snorted. "Before I begin the discussion of the invasion, there is one piece of news that must be shared and dealt with. At my side, all of you can see clearly are both of the Uchiha survivors—"

"We were beginning to wonder when you would bring this up," Danzō said. "Tsunade-hime, bringing back a missing-nin and much more _welcoming_ him—"

"Enough," Tsunade thundered. "You will _not_ interrupt me."

Danzō opened his eye, only to have it narrow at Tsunade. Tsunade glowered at him.

"As I was saying," Tsunade continued. "Some information has been brought to my attention that _must_ be dealt with. The truth behind the Uchiha Massacre."

Immediately other advisor tensed. Danzō didn't even blink.

"But before I begin," Tsunade said. "Danzō. Remove your eye patch."

Danzō's eye narrowed into a slit.

"Remove it," Tsunade ordered. "Or I will have one of my ANBU remove it for you."

"This is ridiculous," Homaru said. "What are you doing, Tsunade-hime? Are you _wanting_ to see a scar?"

Tsunade's eyes narrowed into slits. "Danzō."

"I see no reason to," Danzō said blandly. "There is no—"

"Oater," Tsunade snarled. Immediately, an oater masked ANBU landed behind Danzō, pulling out a single sharp blade and holding it to his throat. He only held this blade with one, steady hand. With his free hand he moved and pulled off Danzō's coverings of his eye.

His covered eye remained closed.

Tsunade gave a nod.

Danzō could not use his Sharingan to manipulate the others if it was closed. And he would not open it and reveal himself so easily.

"Back to what I was saying," Tsunade said. "The truth behind the Uchiha Massacre. As many of you believe, Uchiha Itachi went insane and on a killing spree, slaughtering his entire family save one child. This is not true."

"What do you mean?" Shikaku asked, a small frown on his face.

"For reasons that cannot be disclosed," Tsunade said. "Itachi was ordered to by the three Elders of Konoha as well as the Third Hokage."

"The Third Hokage would never order such a thing," Hiashi said, his face blank.

"He had no choice in the matter," Tsunade nearly growled.

"How can you be so sure Itachi isn't lying?" One of the civilians asked.

"Because Itachi did not tell me this," Tsunade bit out. "I saw the order myself."

"And what is the point to this?" Danzō inquired, his voice flat. "Even if I did not give you the order, I have violated no major law."

"Danzō-sama is right," Homaru said. "He—"

"Wrong," Tsunade said sharply. "Danzō had violated the worst law for the massacre."

She tilted her head towards me and I took a small step forward. "Danzō. Show us your right arm."

Danzō's gaze swung towards me, and I fought back a scowl.

"Do as she says," Tsunade growled.

Deliberately slow, Danzō pulled out a arm, encased in special sealings and golden like armor from his sling. "Is this what you want to see?"

"Un-seal it," I said.

He made no movement.

"Present us your arm," Tsunade said, her voice dangerously low. "Or I will _rip it off_ and show them myself."

With agonizingly slow pace, Danzō unclasped his sealings. One by one, each seal became undone until…

The armor fell off.

I open cringed and backed away from him, my back colliding into Itachi's chest.

A grotesquely pale arm, misconfigured and wrinkled was where his right arm should have been. Eyes, too many to count, implanted all of it, staring up with glazed looks all around. I inwardly shuddered, swallowing back the bile that crawled up my throat.

Through the corner of my eye, Sasuke was shaking with fury. Naruto was frozen with untold shock and pure rage.

I couldn't tear my eyes away from that horror. I couldn't see how the others were reacting.

"Shit," Hidan cursed.

The others remained quiet, too shocked to say anything else.

"Danzō," Tsunade said, her voice quivering with pure fury, "by orders of the Hokage, in violation of the law you are sentenced to death, a battle to the death, with the Uchiha's Clan chosen representative."

Sasuke took a small step forward.

Danzō's eye remained flat, the other left closed.

"However," Tsunade said, "this… monstrosity… does not belong to you. Those eyes, do not belong to you. At the Uchiha Clan's representative, what do you wish to be done with it?"

"Rip it off," Sasuke said quietly, a steel in his voice.

My eyes closed and I sucked in a deep breath. I turned away as the ANBU changed position and shuddered slightly. Itachi tensed at my movement but after a moment of hesitation, Itachi wrapped a comforting arm around me and allowed me to tuck away from the violence.

As soon as that… thing… was gone, the battle would begin.

I did not leave from my comfort spot with Itachi.

I had seen more than enough blood today.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Dear Sakura,

Yes we do have them. They are rather beautiful.

But here we have a different name for them…

_The Sun's Blood._

Yours,

Gaara

* * *

_Poor girl. D:_

_Yeah. No fight scene. Couldn't find the motivation to finish it in less than a week, ergo, you'll have to wait until chapter 51. Sorry but as I said before, I hate writing fight scenes and this story was never really focused on fight scenes. _

_On a happier note, I've officially decided to write two more self-inserts. Though they will be different than this one. I want to do a self-insert of each type (One for reborn into Narutoverse, one for takn' over a body-this one-, and one for _literally_ falling into the Narutoverse)._

_And yay, Pewdiepie is starting a new game. :3 Bro day every day._

_**Answer: **It's actually a tie. I love hilarious stories and _Piano Man and Church Boy_ (an Akatsuki friggin' hilarious one shot) by firefly (nearly all the one shots by firefly are hilarious... or adorable) and _Friendship Story_ by Letta are the two things that pop into mind (again, another funny naruto oneshot). If you're in the mood for Naruto oneshots go rape firefly's page or read _Friendship Story_. Or, hell, Sarah1281. One of the funniest authors I've had the pleasure of reading. Then again she does more than oneshots too. I love _It's For A Good Cause I Swear_!_

**_Question: _**_What's your favorite flower? If you don't like favorite flowers then... um... what's you're favorite food?_

_Reviews are **love**._

_See you Friday with an extra long chapter. 'Cause this one is outrageously short. That will have Tobi in it. _

_Because Tobi is bad ass like that._


	49. Thing For Redheads

_I think the worst time to have a heart attack is during a game of charades. _

_- Anonymous_

_**Warning: **SPOILERS. FOR THE SUMMIT AND WHATNOT. AND LANGUAGE..._

_**Disclaimer:** For whatever reason Kishimoto refuses to give me Naruto..._

* * *

Dear Gaara,

How often does it storm in Suna?

How often do you see the streaks of lightning dancing across the sky and feel the cold rain pelting down? When the storm comes, is it always a big one or always a small one?

They say it's quiet before the storm.

Gaara, I have a feeling there's going to be a _big_ storm coming up.

Worried,

Sakura

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

The next morning, I uncurled myself from my sleeping bag, yawning tiredly. Blinking my eyes open I glanced around. Naruto had somehow crawled out of his own sleeping bag, undoing it mostly in the process and curled himself up next to me. Sasuke was on my other side, as well as Itachi, both still in their sleeping bags but Sasuke had partially snaked out and curled up beside me.

I blinked my eyes sleepily and frowned upon seeing Jiraiya already up. He was across the room, by the front door of the wooden house Yamato made. He caught my eyes and beckoned me forward. I gave a small nod.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shizune and I gathered in a small circle in the center of the very bloodied clearing.

"We received word from the Raikage," Tsunade said. "Just as you said. The Kage meeting has been called, in the Land of Iron—just as you said."

I gave a small, tired nod.

"The first Kage meeting," Sasori mused.

"Called for because of the threat of the Akatsuki," Kakuzu snorted. "When nearly all of us are assumed dead."

"How stupid, yeah," Deidara said.

Tsunade gave a quiet snort. "I will be attending, but I do have a question for you. Who should I bring?"

I frowned and thought very carefully. "I personally would like to go. For your second person, I would suggest Shizune. She is your closest friend and is quite capable of taking care of herself in a fight as well."

Shizune gave a smile at my compliment and Tsunade nodded her head.

"But," I said. "I would have Kakashi, Yamato, Naruto, Sasuke, Neji, Sai, Itachi, Shino and Jiraiya follow behind the three of us a few days. Make a base at the edge of the mountain and prepare for the worse. I say this because originally Tobi confronted Naruto—merely to talk—and there was… another fight. I'm afraid if we leave Naruto and Sasuke here, he might very well come to Konoha and take advantage of its weekend state. But I don't want to leave the original group defenseless against Tobi."

Tsunade gave a sharp nod. "I do not think Shino will be necessary, unless you have a specific reason."

I frowned. "Just in case Bee escaped. I'm assuming he did, he's too clever, Shino is one of the best trackers, next to Kakashi and Kiba's Clan. But Kiba… well I'm afraid he might not control himself very well."

Tsunade nodded. "Shino will remain here then. If there's a need for a tracker then I'm sure Kakashi's contract will do."

I nodded my head. "So that means I can come?"

Tsunade gave me a smug smile. "Unless you don't want to."

I shook my head quickly. "I do!"

Tsunade and Jiraiya chuckled.

Jiraiya moved and ruffled my hair. "Alright. When do we set out?"

Tsunade cocked her head. "Later today. Jiraiya, you'll be in charge of gathering up the group Sakura mentioned and following behind us in the afternoon. Shizune, ready my things."

"Right, Tsunade-sama!"

Jiraiya gave a chuckle and nodded his head. "Not even a day after an _invasion_ and already she has me working."

I gave Jiraiya a cheeky smile while Tsunade rolled her eyes.

"Come on, kid, let's see if we can find some breakfast," Jiraiya said.

"While you're gathering them up," Tsunade added. "Go ahead and give the orders to start rebuilding Konoha."

Jiraiya waved his hand dismissively and slung an arm over my shoulder. I smiled happily and relaxed as he steered me away to find some food.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

I was grinning anxiously as the three of us (not including my Akatsuki) began the long trip to the meeting, Tsunade decked out in her Hokage robe—though she left the robe itself hanging open and didn't bother to put her arms in the sleeves so really it just looked like a cape but…

Shizune walked on Tsunade's right side and I walked on her left.

"Finally, _finally_ you guys are going to see the true identity of Tobi, so to speak," I chortled. "And you'll get to hear his amazingly smexy voice."

Tsunade shook her head and gave an amused snort. "Sakura, I have said it once, said it twice and I'll probably say it many more times but you are the _strangest_ girl I've had the pleasure of meeting."

I winked. "You must feel honored."

Tsunade snorted again and Shizune gave a small chuckle.

Sasori rolled his eyes. "Strange. Demented. Insane. All are used to describe her."

I stuck my tongue out at him. "You're merely jealous of _my_ artistic ability to poison people."

Before Sasori could rebuke, Deidara gave a big snort. "You don't know the meaning of art, yeah. Art is an explosion, a spur of the moment, as fleeting as life itself."

Sasori swung his gaze towards him. "Fool. Art is eternal, beauty that stands the test of time and _dominates_ it."

"You just don't understand, Sasori-no-Danna," Deidara argued. "All of you don't know the real meaning of art, yeah."

"Deidara, just because no one understands _you_, doesn't make you an artist," I said.

Deidara glowered at me and Sasori gave a smirk.

Tsunade's chuckle, brought our attention towards her. "I have a feeling this is going to be a _long _trip."

Kakuzu smirked.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

A little ways from the mountain, Konan and Nagato decided to join us.

"Hiya," I chirped upon seeing them.

Both of them glanced towards me. "We're on our way to a Kage meeting where Tobi's gonna announce the war and stuff. But the best part is, Gaara will be there!"

Sasori snorted. "You're other boy toy?"

I smiled at him. "Don't worry, you'll always be number one, Sasori-no-Danna."

"Of course I will be," Sasori said.

Hidan and Deidara snickered and Kakuzu rolled his eyes. Tsunade shot me and amused look and Shizune blushed brightly. Konan and Nagato watched us thoughtfully.

"Do you have a thing for red heads, yeah?" Deidara asked, though he was smirking.

I gave a mock frown. "No, I'm not flirting with Nagato…" I paused and glanced over at said red head. "Then again…" I flipped and fluffed up my hair a bit before giving an exaggerated wink towards said-red head. "How you doin'?"

My Akatsuki members—along with Tsunade—laughed at this, Nagato frowned and Konan raised an eyebrow.

"You are strange," Konan commented.

"And you're pretty, what's your point?" I asked her.

Konan gave me the barest hint of a smile. I looked over at Nagato.

"Naruto is traveling behind us," I said to him. "You're welcome to join him any time but before you go… mind if I ask what changed your mind?"

Nagato eyed me for a moment. "Itachi."

I blinked.

"Itachi?" Kakuzu asked incredulously.

"Itachi is a man of peace," Nagato monotoned. "He was convinced that you were true to your word, as was Jiraiya. He was persistent."

I blinked again. "Wow. I need to seriously thank him. I guess I'll like… buy him a life time supply of dango or something…"

"Now if I may inquire a question for _you_," Nagato said. At my cocked head, he continued. "Naruto spoke highly of you. I am curious to why that is, but my question is what is _your_ view of peace?"

"World peace?" I guessed then frowned. "Oh, wow, you're asking the wrong girl honey. I don't… I don't really know what to think of it." I gave a sort of grunt. "I don't really and truly _care_ to be perfectly honest. I have different goals."

At his silence I went on. "I want to protect the ones I love, that's all. I don't care about becoming a Kage or ANBU captain. I don't care if all the villages get into a hissy fit and starting having a pissing contest. I truly don't care about that stuff. I only want to protect my precious people and make them happy. That's all I really want."

"That's why," I continued. "I'm doing all of this. You, Konan, the Akatsuki, Shisho, Naruto… every one of them are my precious people. And I know that sounds insane because you've never met me, but it's the truth. Once you've walked in someone's shoes long enough and often enough it's kind of hard _not_ to like them. Sorry if that's not the answer you're looking for, but it's the most honest answer I can give."

Nagato watched me thoughtfully for a moment before responding. "In some ways you remind me of my younger self. All I ever wanted was to protect Yahiko and Konan. I suppose I can see why Naruto thinks highly of you."

I blinked at him, finishing the rest of the sentence in my head. _…but that doesn't mean _I _like you._

I glanced over at Sasori, who must have also finished the sentence in his head. He caught my glance and gave a sort of smirk/smile. I looked back around the rest of my Akatsuki who were also smirking and or smiling.

Finally, I looked back at Nagato. "That's okay. _I_ still like _you_ anyway."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Anxiously, I followed right beside Tsunade as she lead Shizune and I through the halls of the massive samurai fortress. It would seem we were one of the last ones here. Up the stairs, down the hall, through the doors…

Finally we entered the meeting room. I blinked in, noting how it's appearance hasn't changed in the slightest. There was a large oak semicircle desk with banners behind each seat. Each banner held a single kanji of each of the Elemental Nations—Fire, Wind, Water, etc. In front of each banner was a seat and in the seat were some of the Kage.

There was a small desk that sat in front of the semicircle and at that desk was Mifune, who had two of his bodyguards displaying. To Mifune's direct right was the Raikage, A. I couldn't see his bodgyuards, as they were hidden behind the banner in the dark, but I knew they were there. To Mifune's direct left was the Mizukage, Mei. Then there was an open seat, and then the Kazekage, Gaara sat in the middle seat. Then there was yet another empty seat in between Gaara and A.

I couldn't see Temari and Kankuro very well, but I knew they could see me. Not that it mattered. I already had my target locked on.

"Gaara-kun!" I squealed, drawing everyone's attention towards me.

Temari snorted loudly enough and I could hear Kankuro stifling a laugh. Gaara gave me a small smile, standing up from his spot as I literally, jumped across the table to glomp him.

Gaara gave a small smile as he hugged me back.

"Sakura," Tsunade said, amusement tinting her voice. "Were you really unable to control yourself?"

"Sorry!" I said.

"No you're not," Kakuzu said.

I smiled cheekily and looked around, still not fully pulling back from Gaara. "Sorry for that… interruption, everyone. I couldn't help myself."

Mei gave me a small, amused smirk, and A only glared… or stared… I couldn't really tell with him.

I looked at Mei. "You're very pretty."

"Thank you," Mei said, smiling.

Tsunade strode across the room, taking a seat in between Gaara and A. Shizune followed right behind her, ducking behind the banner and to her left.

Turning back to Gaara, my grin widened. "Hello."

"Hello," Gaara said. "I brought you something. I'll give it to you after the meeting."

I beamed and nodded my head, stepping back. I ducked behind the banner, catching Temari's eye and we exchanged a less than subtle but still pretty quiet high five before I moved to where I was supposed to be.

When I moved to my place, Ōnoki entered the room followed by his two bodyguards. He eyed the room with a very calculating eye before taking his seat.

"I am Mifune, our moderator," Mifune said once everyone was seated. "The Five Kage Summit Conference is called into order."

Almost intantly, the room lost it's relaxing feel to it—okay it was only relaxing and nonchalant to me but still—and the air became thick with tension.

"I shall speak first. Hear me," Gaara said, his voice kept neutral and his eyes kept flat.

"There's such a difference in Kage these days," Ōnoki said with a sneer. My eyes narrowed and I bristled on Gaara's half, tempted to send a wave of killer intent towards the old man. "To be a Kage at your age is quite an accomplishment, Kazekage. It seems your father trained you extremely well, except in the area of proper etiquette."

My glower darkened and I hadn't even realized I had taken a menacing step forward until Deidara put a hand on me. My eyes trailed back to him and he gave a snort.

"That old man has always been an ass, yeah," Deidara said, his own face twisted into a scowl at said man. "Forget him, he's not even worth becoming part of my art, hmm."

I gave a sort of smirk but kept my glare.

"You're probably right," Gaara said coolly. "It is the reason why I can be here as Kagekage."

Ōnoki laughed, though it held no merit to it. "You certain are cocky."

"Tsuchikage-donno, there's no need to make fun of him," Mei said smoothly, a slight scolding tone in her voice. "Continue, Kazekage-donno. "

"I am a former jinchūriki," Gaara said. "I was captured by the Akatsuki, they took my bijū and nearly killed me. So I consider the Akatsuki extremely dangerous. I sought the cooperations of the five Kage many times, but was ignored. Except by the Hokage. At a time when various lands have had their jinchūriki stolen the response by this group has been far too slow."

Ōnoki scoffed. "How can the Hidden Villages of the Five Great Nations serve as an example when they allow their jinchūriki to be taken? It's an embarrassment. It is common sense to resolve this in utmost secrecy. Seeking the help of other lands just because of that is nonsense!"

"This fool," Nagato muttered.

I shot him an agreeing look.

"Save face… Prestige… Such old-fashioned beliefs," Gaara droned.

"Old-fashioned beliefs aside, I will acknowledge that as the Mizukage, I have delayed action. However, having our bijū stolen is no cause for immediate fear. Controlling a bijū requires skill, knowledge and time."

I snorted quietly.

"The jinchūriki and the bijū must mature together and adapt to each other," Ōnoki said. "And still, controlling the bijū is difficult. It is not a simple task. Isn't that so, Kazekage-donno?"

That's it. I was kicking his ass. Screw the war, this bitch was going down.

Tsunade's eyes flickered in the direction of mine. "The only people who were capable of controlling the bijū were Uchiha Madara, Senju Hashirama, Fourth Mizukage Yagura, and Killer Bee. But that does not mean—"

Tensing at the sudden wave of killer intent, I gripped my kunai at the same time Shizune did.

"Enough of this!" A roared, just as Shizune and I lurched out from our spot to appear in front of Tsunade—and me partially in front of Gaara—prepared to defend her (and Gaara of course) against any potential threat.

A slammed his fist into the desk, practically destroying his part of it.

I blinked around, noticing all the other bodyguards were prepared to pretty much maim each other at the first word.

I looked back at Tsunade and smirked, mouthing: _Told you so._

Tsunade shook her head, stifling a chuckle.

Mifune gave a sigh. "This is a place of discussion. Please refrain from disruptive actions."

"Come on back, Sakura, Shizune," Tsunade said. I was amazed how despite how amused her eyes showed, her face held a steel to it.

"You too, Kankuro, Temari," Gaara said.

"Ao, Chojuro. I'm fine," Mei said.

Ōnoki only inclined his head.

A gave something akin to a pout and glare—how can someone _that_ bad ass looking pout?—before pulling his fist out of the desk and sitting down.

The bodyguards quickly fell back into position.

"You know, for a second I thought you were going to kill that fucking old guy," Hidan said.

"She would have if given the chance," Sasori said.

"He would have a high bounty on his head," Kakuzu mused. "I wouldn't mind helping her. Split it thirty-seventy my way…"

"I'd do it for free," I muttered quietly.

"A hundred my way works too," Kakuzu went on, not missing a beat.

"Let us continue our discussion," Mifune said.

"Konoha, Iwa, Suna, Kiri, rogue shinobi from _your_ villages make up the Akatsuki. And that is not all, from our investigations we know that among you, including your previous Kage, there are those who used the Akatsuki!"

Immediately, Tsunade tensed and my Akatsuki members glanced around.

"Shit, did they find out about us already?" Hidan asked.

"No," Sasori dismissed. "Impossible."

"Used them?" Gaara inquired, shock registering on his face.

"Looks like your boy toy won't be happy if he finds out about us, yeah," Deidara said with a smirk.

Sasori blinked and Hidan grinned widely. "But Sasori already knows."

Deidara flushed and flustered for a moment. "I—I thought it was the… the…"

Sasori shook his head and shot Deidara a withering glare. "Brat."

"I do not trust you," A growled. "I had no intention of even discussing this with you. But the reason I convened this summit is to question your loyalty!"

"What do you mean, 'used' the Akatsuki?" Gaara asked.

"You are the Kazekage yet you have not been informed?" A demanded. "Ask the elders back home! You used the Akatsuki in the past war!"

"The Great Nations are heading towards uniform stability," Ōnoki said. "They are moving from military expansion to military disarmament. As fear and the threat of war diminishes between the nations, Hidden Villages, which are the source of its military strength become costly hindrances. And yet carelessly downsizing the villages poses a risk. What if war suddenly breaks out? It would be a problem to depend on shinobi who have no experience in war. It would mean certain defeat!"

"And one way to reduce that risk is mercenary soldiers," Gaara said flatly. "Namely, the Akatsuki?"

"It takes effort and money to train skilled shinobi from your own village," Ōnoki droned. "But the Akatsuki, which makes war its livelihood, is made up of experience professionals. Furthermore, they can be hired for cheap. Best of all, they return exceptional results."

"Get serious, Tsuchikage!" A snarled. Ōnoki scoffed but A continued on. "Suna used the Akatsuki to destroy Konoha. I'm speaking of Orochimaru. It is not clear if he had broken away from the Akatsuki or not. But as a result, your father, the Fourth Kazekage and the Third Hokage died. And frankly, it's hard not to rule out the idea that this was someone's scheme."

A's eyes moved over to Tsunade. Her eyes narrowed.

"For your sake, I would hope you not implying I killed my own sensei for this damned spot," Tsunade growled.

A gave a small shake of his head. "Not you."

"Danzō," I whispered, loud enough for Tsunade to be hear—and probably Gaara and his bodyguards—but quiet enough not to carry over to A.

Tsunade gave a small frown, her scowl never wavering. "I assure you, _we_ have taken care of _our_ problem. Do not concern yourself with it… Raikage."

I stifled at her patronizing tone when she addressed his title. While it's true she was much older and more experienced than him, A was just simply someone you did not fuck with.

A's eyes narrowed before swinging towards Mei. "The most suspicious is Kiri. You Kiri do not conduct diplomacy. There are even rumors that the Akatsuki originated there!"

Mei's eyes trailed down sadly, her expression a mixture between solemn and melancholy. "Since we have come this far I will speak honestly. There were suspicions that someone was manipulating Yagura, our Fourth Mizukage. And there was a possibility that it was the Akatsuki. No one wanted this to get blown out of proportion."

"Each and every one of you—"

"Hold your tongue, Raikage," Ōnoki snapped. "Ultimate it is because _your_ village disregarded the disarmament efforts and sought powerful ninjustu. We had no choice but to counter by hiring the Akatsuki!"

"What?!" A snarled, standing up.

"Before we argue too much, as I was saying _before_ I was interrupted so long ago," Tsunade said. "I have good reason to believe the true leader of the Akatsuki is someone who goes by the name of Uchiha Madara."

Cue the frozen faces of shock along with the strangled gasps of some members of my Akatsuki.

"Are you sure of that?" Mei asked Tsunade.

"Hasn't he been dead for several decades?" Gaara inquired.

"He is right. He died a long time ago," Ōnoki said, but even I could see the slight unease and hesitation in him.

"Uchiha Madara commanded the bijū, many decades ago," Tsunade said. "If he _is_ the leader the Akatsuki, we have reason to worry now. Furthermore, I am not yet made aware of _all_ of the details yet, but I know enough to be concerned."

"Are you saying he's immortal?" A demanded.

Tsunade remained silent.

"To think…" Ōnoki trailed off for a moment. "He really was a monster."

A slumped in his chair.

After a pregnant pause of silence, Mifune cleared his throat. "I want to speak on behalf of the neutral nations. The leader of the Akatsuki was able to read the times well. Despite stabilization, nations have had private suspicions and the Akatsuki took advantage of that weakness to amass its power."

"What are you trying to say?!" A asked.

"Calm down," Mifune placated. "Turn calamity into good fortune. It is extremely rare for all five Kage to assemble. What do you say? Until the Akatsuki is eliminated, why not establish the world's first Allied Shinobi Forces of the Five Hidden Villages?"

"An allied force?" A inquired.

Tsunade tilted her head. "We are in a state of urgency, I see no reason to go against such a plan."

"Going forward, we must determine a chain of command," Mifune said. "We must avoid any further confusion."

"So? Who will we choose to lead the allied forces?" Ōnoki asked, a sly smile on his face.

"Leaving that to you five will only result in arguments," Mifune said thinly. "So I ask that you respect the position of neutral nations and allow me to come up with a proposal to decide who among you five Kage is most suitable."

Tsunade cleared her throat. "Before you begin, I ask that all of you listen to what one of my closest advisors have to say. Sakura."

I smiled happily and jumped down to sit on the desk beside Tsunade. "Thanks Hokage-sama! Before I begin, Raikage-sama, may I inquire a question?"

A's eyes narrowed.

"It's just a quick question about Killer Bee-sama. When he fought the Akatsuki… I'm assuming it was Kisame-sama, did he lose a tentacle?"

A's eyes flickered wide for a moment before narrowing into slits. "And what if he did?"

"Ah, so he did," I concluded. "Oh okay then. He's alive, by the way."

A's eyes widened. "What?!"

"He used the fight as a diversion to escape," I told him. "He's currently talking to some rap master in the forest surrounding this very mountain. The Akatsuki probably figured out by now that he fooled them so they're probably going to send Kisame after him again and whatnot."

"Are you certain?" A demanded.

"Positive," I assured him. "Doesn't it sound like him any way?"

A frowned and shook his head, his face twisting into a glower. "Yes. It does."

I smiled. "Glad I could be of assistance then. If you want, I would be more than happy to take you straight to him after this meeting, with Hokage-sama's permission of course."

"You already have it," Tsunade said.

I nodded. "I know. But it's nice to double check and stuff. So… with that said, might I cast my vote to go towards Raikage-sama to be the leader?"

"You aren't going to suggest your own Hokage?" Ōnoki inquired, smiling slyly.

I shot him a glare. "Old man. Raikage-sama is the best one for the position. While I'm sure Hokage-sama would do just as well, Raikage-sama has the best experience. Not the most like you, old man, otherwise he'd be too strict and stubborn to properly lead us. Mizukage-sama would be a good choice as well however because of the suspicions originating around her village—and sorry about this—but it would be a bigger hassle to inspire loyalty among our people. Gaara, and please forgive me darling but, has the least experience with leading an alliance."

I shot him an apologetic look and he waved it off with a smile and a nod.

"Plus now that Raikage-sama isn't _too_ worked up about Bee anymore, he's got a pretty clear head to lead," I added.

Mifune gave a small nod. I smiled again, but didn't move to from my seat at the desk. The show was staring soon and no one seemed to mind me here.

Except Ōnoki but I didn't care about him.

Raikage eyed me another moment before returning his gaze to Mifune.

"As I was saying," Mifune said. "The leader—"

The ground erupted in the center of the room and I lazily looked at it as White Zetsu wiggled his way up, smiling insanely.

"Hello!"

Immediately all the bodyguards—minus myself—jumped out from their spots and readied themselves in a defensive position.

"Now what?!" A snarled.

"Zetsu," I said. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"My, my, what is everyone doing here?" Zetsu crowded. "I hope I'm not interrupting—"

Before the blink of an eye, A had a single strong hand wrapped tightly around Zetsu's throat. "What the hell are you doing here, trash?!"

Zetsu only smiled as A tightened his hold. "If you don't answer me, I won't show mercy!"

Zetsu only laughed and A glared down at him furiously before snapping his neck.

"You didn't have to kill him," Mei said. "We could have taken and tortured him into revealing intel about the Akatsuki."

"No one in the Akatsuki talks. They are extremely loyal," Gaara said.

"I don't know… money talks," Kakuzu said.

"Greedy bastard," Hidan muttered.

"Hmm," I mused. "If Zetsu showed up, does that mean someone else will show up?"

"Only time will tell," Mei said. "Do we wait here or do we search?"

"Let them come to us," Tsunade said. "If we fought together it would increase our chances."

A snorted but sat back down.

I pulled out a deck of cards and turned to Tsunade, Gaara, Temari and Kankuro. "Wanna play?"

Tsunade frowned thoughtfully. "Sakura, this is a very serious meeting. You cannot simply…" She then paused. "Ah, what the hell. Sure."

"I wouldn't mind joining," Temari said with a shrug.

Gaara shook his head.

I looked over to Mei and her bodyguards. "Wanna join?"

"What are you playing?" Mei asked.

"Go Fish," I said.

Mei frowned.

"Shisho said I'm not allowed to play _any_ gambling games," I explained. "So it's either Go Fish or War."

"I'll play War," Mei said, turning to face Chojuro. "Care to join?"

"I-I'd love to, Mizukage-sama!" Chojuro exclaimed, his face bright red. Aww… a male Hinata…

I looked over to A and smiled. A snorted. "… Fine."

I smiled happily.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"What have we here?"

All of us paused in the middle of our game, glancing up from our cards to stare as Tobi ever so slowly materialized before us.

"Smexy voice-slash-Molester!" I exclaimed happily

Tobi glanced at me, his single visible eye locking with mine. I winked a thim. His eye narrowed. Immediately, everyone else tensed with narrowed eyes. Tobi appeared before us, appearing completely at ease yet very smug. It was incredibly awesome. Then he spoke in that even more awesome voice that I _finally_ get to hear aside from my dreams.

Well. I didn't call him smexy voice for nothing.

"My name is Uchiha Madara," Tobi said. I snickered at this. It just seemed so... absurd when he said it and I knew the truth. His gaze quickly fell back on me.

"What the hell, yeah!" Deidara shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Tobi. "What the hell is that retard doing here?"

"What the fuck is up with his voice?" Hidan demanded.

Sasori and Kakuzu exchanged a look. Nagato and Konan merely watched impassively.

"I have something I want to explain to you all," Tobi said, "and once you comprehend it, I want to pose a question."

"What is it?" A growled.

"It's about my plan… Moon's Eye Plan."

"Tobi has a plan, hmm?" Deidara asked in disbelief.

A lunged forward, his entire body lit with blue electricity before his fist slammed where Tobi should have been. Naturally of course, he went right through Tobi and crashed into the wall behind him. Tobi stood perfectly still, completely unminding.

"Nothing planned by the Akatsuki is going to be good," A said. "Who knows what you're up to?"

"I all ask is that you listen to my explanation," Tobi said.

"Calm down, Raikage," Ōnoki said. "Let's hear him out and take it from there."

A gave a sort of grunt.

"Hi Tobi," I chirped.

Tobi glanced at me. "My name is Uchiha Madara."

"Yes. And my name is Uzumaki Naruto."

Tobi continued to stare at me another moment, debating on what to do. "You're very hard to contact alone."

"I know," I said. "My friends don't want me to be kidnapped though."

"I wouldn't kidnap you," Tobi purred. "I just want to talk."

I gazed up at him longingly. "You're making it very hard to stay loyal to Kisame-sama when you use that voice."

Tobi chuckled and I tried very, very, hard not to gush about it. Or squeal. Damn it, I was reverting back to my original Tobi fan girl self. I couldn't cheat on Kisame like that! Even though I don't think he particularly cared one or another (though I'd like to think that he did) it was the principal!

"Stop that," I scolded.

Tobi only tilted his head in a curious manner before he leapt back, jumping up to the high balcony and then promptly sitting down. But of course he sat down like a bad ass, not just regularly sitting down.

Heaven forbid Tobi did anything regularly.

"Now then, are you all ready to listen?" Tobi asked, deciding to move back to his original topic. "Originally I was planning on using Sasuke or Itachi to weaken or defeat you all to make you my hostages but that seems unlikely now. Pity."

"Pity indeed," I murmured, sighing again. Would it be so bad to be kidnapped by Tobi? His voice was just so _smexy_.

"Take us hostage? For what purpose?" Mei demanded, scowling.

"To smoothly implement the aforementioned Moon's Eye Plan."

"It's quite shocking to learn that Uchiha Madara is still alive, but why would a man of your skill resort to such a roundabout method?" Ōnoki asked. "Surely you have the strength to bring any plan into fruition."

"The injuries I sustained during my battle with the First Hokage Hashirama were too severe," Tobi replied smoothly. "I have no strength in me now. You could say I am merely a shell of my old self."

"Wait, wait, wait," Hidan said. "Does this mean that _Tobi_ is the actual leader of Akatsuki? What the fucking hell?!"

"I don't believe it, yeah!" Deidara shouted. "This has to be a trick. There is no way Tobi could be the leader. He's too much of a retard, hmm."

"Idiots," Sasori muttered. "Are you truly so dense you deny the evidence when it stands before you?"

"What better way to disguise himself than to hide himself among us as the weakest link," Kakuzu said with narrowed eyes. "Genius but degrading."

"Is this a plan to restore yourself?" Temari asked.

"Hmm," Tobi hummed thoughtfully. "You could say that. But that's not all."

"What are you scheming?!" Mifune demanded. "Just what is the Moon's Eye Plan?!"

Tobi cocked his head and held up a single, slender finger. He paused. "All shall become one with me and result in a complete possession form that unites all."

"Become one? Unite all? What do you mean?" Ōnoki asked.

I could practically see Tobi's smirk. "The Uchiha have an ancient stone tablet that has been passed down through generations. It exists underground in Konoha. Upon it are written secrets, engraved by the Sage of Six Paths himself. It cannot be read unless you possess ocular powers. With the Sharingan, Mangekyo Sharingan and Rinnegan, in that order, the contests become increasingly visible."

"You're story is unlikely. The Sage of Six Paths doesn't—"

"It's is the truth," Tobi interrupted Ōnoki . "He did exist and he left the stone tablet."

"Don't change the subject," A growled. "What does your plan have to do with the Sage of Six Paths?!"

"Do you know why he became a legendary figure and a godlike figure that is revered as a god of shinobi? There lies the link between my plan and this man."

"Uchiha Madara… you possess the Mangekyo Sharingan and among the Akatsuki there was one who possessed the Rinnegan. You know everything already, don't you?" Mei asked. "We're listening."

"He once saved the world from a certain monster," Tobi said. "Gaara, you also had one part of that monster sealed inside of you. That monster was the combination of every bijū in existence. Something that possessed the most powerful chakra. The Jūbi."

"Aren't there only nine bijū?" Temari asked.

"I just told you," Tobi replied. "It was the combination of _all_ the bijū. Ichibi, Nibi, Sanbi, Yonbi, Gobi, Rokubi, Nanbi, Hachibi, Kyūbi. The Jubi's chakra was simply divided up into nine bijū by the Sage of Six Paths."

"I don't like where this story is headed," Kankuro muttered. "Is that why the Akatsuki are gathering bijū?"

"The Sage of Six Paths developed a certain ninjustu in order to protect the world from the Jubi. Even today that ninjustu is still being secretly passed down. It is the Sealing Jutsu process for jinchūriki. Yes, the Sage of Six Paths was the Jubi's jinchūriki. In order to suppres it, he sealed the Jubi within his body. The Sage, who saved a world terrorized by the Jubi became a savior and won praise as a god. But if the Sage died, the powerful and demonic chakra of the Jubi would once again be released unto the world. Fearing this, at the time of his death, the Sage of Six Paths summoned every last ounce of his power to partition the Jubi's chakra into nine parts and scattered them across the world."

Tobi cocked his head. "Then he sealed the Jubi's body, now devoid of chakra and hurled it into the sky. And it became the moon."

"What a tall tale. As if a human could do such a thing."

"When he became jinchūriki of the Jubi, the Sage of Six Paths went beyond the realm of humans."

"I understand now that you seek that inhuman power," Mifune said. "by gathering the chakra of the nine, namely all, of the bijū. But what will you do with all that power?"

"Revive the Jubi," Tobi said. "And I will become the Jubi's jinchūriki. I will use its power to strengthen my ocular powers and activate a certain jutsu."

"What jutsu?" Tsunade asked, her eyes narrowed.

"A super genjutsu where I project my eyes off the moon," Tobi answered. "Infinite Tsukuyomi. I will cast a genjutsu on every human that walks the earth. And in that genjutsu, I will control all humans and unify the world. A world without hatred or war. Everything will become one with me, everything will be united. That is the Moon's Eye Plan."

"Stop joking around! I'm not handing the world over to you!" A snarled.

"Peace that exists only as an illusion is deception," Gaara said. "Peace is only meaningful when it is genuinely achieved in the real world."

"Like hell I'd let this pass," Tsunade said firmly.

"What would exist in such a world? There is no hope, no dreams! It's just an escape," Mei said.

"Unite the world, huh? But instead of sounding like you truly want such a thing, it only sounds like you want to make the world yours," Ōnoki said.

Tobi chuckled. "All this talk and yet what have you Five Kage accomplished? You of all people should know by now… there is no such thing as hope! To hope is the equivalent to giving up and it's the biggest deception of all. Turn over the remaining Hachibi and Kyūbi and cooperate with my plan. Or there will be war."

"War you say?" Gaara asked.

"So what…" A glanced at me. "… Sakura said was earlier was true. He… escaped." A paused for a moment before pure fury lit in his eyes. "That idiot! He used that chance to slip away and now he's actually having the time of his life! Unforgivable! He's going to my Iron Claw!"

"We will not hand over Uzumaki Naruto," Gaara said.

"I agree with him," Mei said.

"It goes without saying what I agree with," Tsunade said.

"There's no way I'll let him have my younger brother," A growled.

"I don't have the strength, but the bijū we've gathered so far do. You people have no chance of winning."

"We haven't given up hope," Gaara said.

"Very well. I hereby declare the start of the Fourth Great Shinobi War," Tobi said.

"Fourth Great Shinobi War?" Ōnoki asked incredulously. "Are you mad?"

"Oh!" I exclaimed. "Tobi! I have a question for you."

Tobi swung his gaze towards me.

"So let me get this straight," I said. "You're going to start a _war_ for world _peace_?"

Tobi stared at me.

"Sweetie," I said gently, "that is by far the most hypocritical thing I have ever heard. But it's okay, I still adore you."

Tsunade sighed.

My Akatsuki members—minus Nagato and Konan—did a very lovely face palm. Shizune shook her head along with Temari and Kankuro.

Gaara sighed as well.

"… Well then. The next time we meet will be on the battlefield, for most of you anyway. See you soon, Sa-ku-ra," Tobi purred, standing up. At the end of his sentence, he dematerialized and was soon out of sight.

When he was gone, Ōnoki dipped his head. "What do we do now?"

I blinked. Did no one catch the fact that he just specifically said he would specifically see _me_ soon?

I had a very bad feeling about that. Or good feeling. I was a little torn at the moment. Did I want to be kidnapped by Tobi?

Oh God/Jashin/Pein/Kami what was _wrong_ with me?

When none of my Akatsuki members said anything about that specific statement, I dismissed it. Either they were in too much shock over Tobi's reveal or I just misheard it and Tobi wasn't coming for me. That was probably it. Yeah.

"We have to form an Allied Shinobi Force," Gaara said. "It's the only way we can counter the power of seven bijū."

"Let's form this alliance and settle this once and for all," A said.

"We cannot allow our last two remaining bjuu to fall into his hands," Mei said. "I think it is imperative that our Allied Shinobi Forces find the two first and place them into hiding."

"However we cannot even imagine the power Madara wields with the seven he already has," Ōnoki said. "Furthermore, he may possess a certain jutsu or a trump card for using the bijū. Otherwise he wouldn't have come on so strong. Perhaps it would be wise for the Allied Shinobi Forces to plan on using the Hachibi and Kyūbi as military weapons too."

"Absolutely not," Tsunade said, just as Gaara said, "That cannot happen."

They exchanged a glance and Tsunade dipped her head for Gaara to continue. "This is also a war to protect those two. There is a reason why Madara is waging war with just seven bijū he has collected thus far. It is too difficult for Madara in his weakened state and Akatsuki members to capture the Hachibi and Kyūbi. Even if they had succeeded, he felt the risk was too great. That is why he may be hoping to lure the two to his side through the war. In any case, using the Hachibi and Kyūbi for battle is not a wise strategy."

"I agree," Tsuande said.

"As do I," Mei said.

"I also concur with the Kazekage," A said. "If we consider the worst-case scenario, it will be like offering the Hachibi or the Kyūbi on silver platters. And besides, the Hachibi is my younger brother and 'military strength' is a foreign concept to him. I can't predict what he'd do. He may just create more chaos on the battlefield!"

Tsunade snorted.

"Naruto would do the same," Gaara said.

"That's for sure," Kankuro said.

"I'll say," Temari chuckled.

I pouted. "He can be serious… at times… sometimes… rarely… ever… okay I see your point."

"I understand. Well then, Tsuchikage our aim will be to protect and confine the Hachibi and Kyūbi," Mei said.

"Well then. Sakura, was it?"

I smiled. "Yep?"

"You know where Killer Bee is?" A asked.

"I do!" I chirped. "He's learning from this sensei about… rapping or something. Want me to show you now?"

A nodded his head and bent down to undo my weights. Taking them off I handed them to Shizune, taking off my wrist weights as well. I turned to Gaara. "Naruto traveled a half day behind us and is probably set up at camp at the base. I'll head back there when I'm done with A."

Tsunade glanced at Gaara. "I'll be heading that way. Tsuchikage, Mizukage, you are both welcome to join us at the base. We can further discuss plans there once Sakura has returned with Raikage."

"Very well," Ōnoki said.

"I don't mind," Mei replied.

Gaara nodded his head towards me. "I will wait for you there, then."

I smiled and turned back to A, feeling extremely light from the lack of weights. "Ready to go, Raikage-sama?"

"Lead the way," A said, giving a feral grin.

I had a feeling Bee was going to be in _biiiiig_ trouble.

Then I thought of Tobi.

I had a feeling _I_ was going to be in _biiiiig _trouble.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

Dear Sakura,

There are few storms in Suna, but when they come they are strong and large.

For a while, it has been nothing but quiet here. Far too quiet for far too long, I suppose, because I have the strangest feeling you are right.

A very large storm indeed.

Yours,

Gaara

* * *

_Kukuku... Tobi's last statement to Sakura... is he coming for her? Or is he not?_

_Meeting Kurama will be popping up soon._

**_OH. OH. BEFORE I FORGET. I HAVE AMAZING NEW FAN ART. LINK ON PROFILE. GO CHECK IT OUT. :D Please? Or go look on my Deviantart accounts latest favorites or Saki-Hitsumi's gallery on Deviantart. _**

**_Thanks again for the fan art. :)_**

_Anyway... there you guys go. Nice and long. _

**_Answer: _**_Dicentra. I find them to be absolutely beautiful. :3 _

**_Question: _**_Favorite thing about Naruto? Least favorite thing about Naruto?_

_Reviews are **love**._

_Before I forget... for those of you that are still reading this and aren't up to date on the manga, you might want to get up to date on the manga. Major spoilers in epilogue(s?), war and next chapter. _

_No more spoiler alerts after the next chapter. This is my warning. D; Sorry._

_And 'course I'm a bro. *brofist fellow bros* :)_


	50. Bee and Follower

_"I used to be a model. And let me tell you something, you don't know what war is until you've been in a dressing room with a bunch of size zero models reaching for the last rice cake."_

_-Anonymous_

_**Disclaimer: **No matter how much I want otherwise, Naruto is not mine._

_**Warning: **SPOILERS and such language. Seriously though. Be up to date on the manga. Or at least enough to know Tobi's identity._

* * *

Dear Gaara,

I've always had a love hate relationship with hail. I can't really explain _how_ it started, only that it did.

On one hand I love hail for the fact that it looks pretty when it falls. I like when it lands and I find it amusing to play with. Yes I realize how childish that last remark is. No, I don't care. I like how the clouds look when it hails. Thick and heavy yet not overbearing.

On the other hand I dislike being hit in the head with hail. Oh sure it's funny if Duck-Ass or Naruto get hit but it hurts like a _mofo_ when I get hit. I also dislike it when it damages my roof. Or anything that belongs to me. It's welcome to damage anyone else's property though. Just not mine.

Do you have a love hate relationship with something?

Thinking,

Sakura

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

"_Kisame-sama!_"

I think you can safely guess who squealed that with pure glee.

Closely behind me was A and his bodyguards, but I paid them no mind. I focused on the Samehada-infused Kisame who was looming over a nearly unconscious Bee. He was dripping wet which had me momentarily worried. After all this was an incredibly cold climate and I definitely didn't want my idol to freeze to death. That would be _so_ uncool.

But I only worried briefly because one minute I was looking upon him with utter adoration and the next I had slammed into his very surprised body and tackled him to the ground.

I nuzzled his side affectionately. "Kisame-sama."

He stiffened considerably, adjusting to sit up with me hugging his waist and pretty much in his lap. He blinked at me in surprise. "What the hell."

"Shh," I said softly (okay fine _cooed_). "Don't fight it."

"What—"

He never had time to finish his sentence because I had not so subtly pricked him with my own poisoned needle. A fast acting poison/sedative that had _Naruto_ asleep in seconds. Took all of Sasori and my own combined knowledge to figure out a nonlethal kind but damn it. I was determined.

This was _Kisame_.

He sagged and fell back into the snow.

I smiled at him, fondly patting his cheek.

Vaguely I could hear A was checking on his brother, but I paid them no mind. Instead I bit into my palm, summoned Ibuse to have him eat my idol before quickly dismissing him.

By the time that ordeal was over, I looked happily upon the newly reunited brothers.

"Hi," I greeted happily. "I'm Sakura. I just saved my idol's life."

"In the most bizarre way, yeah," Deidara muttered. "You practically tackled him to the ground. If I didn't know any better I would say you were prepared to ra—"

"Enough, brat," Sasori growled.

"Yeah, yeah, I didn't know I had a fan though I'm pretty glad it's not a man, yeah," Bee said, slowly and tiredly sitting up.

"I'm not _your_ fan, though I do like you," I told Bee. "I'm Kisame-sama's fan. He's my idol."

"As strange as that fucking sounds," Hidan grumbled.

"Fish face is the one with the fan, not me? And here I was about to feel glee," Bee grumbled.

I blinked. "You reminded me of Dr. Sues at that moment."

"Who?"

"Don't worry about it," I said, "... So I hear you like to rap."

Bee gave me a toothy grin.

"I have to admit, while I'm not too good with coming up with raps on my own, I'd definitely like to hear some of yours," I confessed, grinning widely.

"Whatever, whenever, I'm always willing to bust a rhyme in any way however. Especially to please such pretty follower of the Bee."

"Pretty? You think I'm pretty? Yep. I am now definitely your follower, Bee-_sama_. I'll still remain as Kisame-sama's fan girl though, but just know, you're my number one musician," I said, beaming proudly. It's been a while since I was praised, it felt good. Then turning to A I said, "Well, now that you've got your bro and shit, ready to head on back?"

A gave me a tooth filled grin. "Lead the way."

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

I squealed the moment we entered the makeshift camp, rushing towards the familiar red head and glomping him. He didn't even bother to stiffen up, just sort of let me hug him and smother him in love. "Hello."

"Hello," Gaara said, slowly adjusting so he could maneuver an arm to pat my back.

"Hi Momma!" Naruto said from next to Gaara. "Where's this big scary leader Baa-chan was telling me about?"

"He's meeting with her now," I said. "They're going to decide who's going to lead the shinobi force and what's the next plan of action."

"Plan of action," Naruto said with a frown. "What do you mean?"

Oh that's right… Naruto doesn't know about the war and he's not supposed to for a while…

I gave him a smile and wink. "We're gonna team up and spill our information on the Akatsuki then decide what to do from there. More than likely you'll be stuck training until we have a course of action and shit."

"Training?" Naruto echoed. "What do you mean?"

"With Killer Bee-sama, of course," I said. "Don't worry. Tsunade-sama will explain it better… which reminds me… Gaara and I should _probably_ head over there now. Gaara will you carry me?"

Gaara blinked at me. "With my sand?"

"Sure."

"… Okay."

"Thank you!"

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

"The awesome duo have arrived," I declared happily as Gaara and I entered the meeting tent. Tsunade gave an amused snort and the other Kage didn't even seem phased.

"Excellent," Tsunade said. "Sakura, we're still debating on leadership and such. I'll call you in when… we need you."

"Understood," I said, giving her a mock salute. "Toodles then."

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

"Thanks for allowing this," I said to Nagato as the two of us sat alone, a ways from camp. The rest of my Akatsuki members (minus Kisame who wouldn't show up for a while yet) were temporarily bugging Naruto and stuff so we could talk in private.

Nagato gave a small incline of his head.

"So," I said slowly. "The war. As you can see, it's here."

Nagato stared blankly at me.

"I was hoping," I said carefully. "Well… I guess you could say I kind-of-sort-of-_maybe_ have a plan. And I was kind-of-sort-of hoping you'd like the plan."

"Plan?" Nagato asked blandly.

"It's a win-win plan," I explained. "Or at least _I_ think it's a win-win plan. It's not particularly _bad_ for either of us so… anyway… it goes a little something like this…"

When I was done, Nagato continued to stare at me blankly, but there was a different gleam in his eyes. "You do realize we will need to consult with the others first."

"Yeah, but if they agree with the plan it's better to have you already okay with it."

"I suppose. I will decide after they do."

"Fair enough. We should probably talk to the about the plan before Kisame-sama shows up though. He'll be easier to convince to go along with it if _everyone else_ is agreeing to it. Though he's still painfully loyal to Tobi… hmm… I'm sure Itachi will be able to convince him though…"

"More than likely. Let us inform them of your… idea now, while we still have time before he shows up."

"Good idea. Hopefully I won't be called into the meeting until _after_ Kisame pops up but… doubtful."

"Doubtful indeed."

"Well. Let's go grab the others and talk to them before I'm called into the meeting."

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

"Er, hi," I said, looking around at all the Kage. The Akatsuki shifted behind me, some appearing anxious and others remaining indifferent. Itachi was the only solid Akatsuki member beside me.

"Can you really see the future?" Mei asked incredulously, eyeing me skeptically.

"_A_ future," I corrected. "Pretty sure after this I'll be pretty damn ordinary."

"Then tell us what you know of the war," A growled.

I held up a hand. "Actually… there's something I'd like to ask. A bargain I would like to make."

"What do you mean?" Gaara inquired.

"It'll be most beneficial during the war if you accept," I began slowly, "as well as after the war. It's a win-win for everyone."

"What is it?" Mei asked.

I smiled at them opening, extracting from my pockets four more familiar vials and holding them out. "Well, you see… it's about the supposedly _dead Akatsuki members…_"

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

I coughed, rubbing my eyes tiredly as I glanced up at the lighting sky. From noon yesterday to dawn today. That's how long I was in that _stupid_ meeting, explaining everything and anything and bargaining for my deal. My voice was hoarse and I was tired and _hungry_.

But I couldn't complain too much, I allowed. My bargain was acceptable and I had everything off my chest. No more big secrets, no more surprising turns, no more… _major_ responsibility… free.

The burden I had been carrying since the invasion was finally… lighter.

Not gone. Not entirely. I still had one more thing to do and then…

And then I would be free of this.

The very thought of that, sent a bubble of emotion in the pit of my stomach that threatened to burst over. Roughly, I shoved it back down, breathing in through my nose until my emotions were under control.

I probably shouldn't do that.

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

"Kisame-sama!" I squealed at the figure that had _magically_ appeared in front of me, waking me up and alerting the rest of the Akatsuki members.

"The hell?" Kisame blinked.

"Welcome to the club, yeah," Deidara said with a grin.

"Aren't you _dead?_" Kisame asked in disbelief as he glanced around the Akatsuki members.

"If they're dead then what am I?" I wondered.

"A demon?" Kisame offered.

"What kind of demon?"

"The good kind?"

"Wouldn't she more of a fan girl demon?" Hidan frowned.

"That makes sense," Sasori said with a small nod of his head. I noticed the rest of the members were also nodding their heads at this.

"Yes, well," I allowed, "can you really blame me? I mean—_look_ at him! He's amazing. Kisame-sama, you're amazing."

Kisame gave me a grin. "So I've been told."

I sighed dreamily at the smile.

Sasori gave a sigh. "Brat. Enough. Where's Itachi?"

I frowned, pausing thoughtfully. Then shrugged and yelled, "SEXY UCHIHA! REPORT TO ME ASAP!"

Deidara huffed while Sasori and Kakuzu face palmed. Hidan and Kisame just laughed while Konan and Nagato merely exchanged looks. A few heart beats passed before Sasuke showed up at the door.

I stared at him.

He stared at me.

I snorted once before my sides heaved with laughed. Deidara and Hidan howled with laugther beside me and the rest of the members were looking _extremely _amused.

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"Not—_you_—y-y-ou i-idiot!" I choked with laughter, clutching my sides. Sasuke glowered at me after realizing what I meant.

"I hate you," Sasuke informed me.

I continued to laugh.

"Where's Itachi?" Nagato asked.

Sasuke sighed. "I'll go get him…"

Sasuke disappeared for a moment while I struggled to regain control of my laughter.

When my laughter was finally under control, Itachi arrived and gave a small nod to Kisame. Though I was still snickering when I managed to stand up. "Okay Itachi… we're counting on you to convince Kisame to go against smexy-voice and join our cause… good luck."

"What?" Kisame blinked again, frowning. "Wait… what exactly is going on here?"

"It's a long story," Itachi said with a resigned sigh. "You see, it all began with the Salamanders…"

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

I was gathering a few herbs, some ways from the camp, humming a little tune. My Akatsuki members were drifting around me, doing various things to keep them occupied.

It was at that moment that I heard the smexiest voice alive.

"Sakura."

I didn't falter in my humming, turning around slowly to stare at Tobi who had materialized before me.

"Oh fuck, un!" Deidara gaped. "Shit, shit, what do we do, yeah?"

I started signing aloud, still to the tune of the song, "_Grab my sunshine, my lovely sunshine. Or maybe my white clouds? Hurry, love, hurry love. All of you must flee to grab my sunshine, my lovely sunshine._"

"You mean Naruto?" Sasori asked. "Or Jiraiya?"

"That's right, we're anchored to them," Kakuzu muttered. "Try and hold him off Sakura. We'll be right back."

"No, one of us should stay," Sasori hissed.

"_Go, all of you. Before I do to you what I did to Fluffy,_" I sung.

Needless to say they left.

"Sorry, had that song stuck in my head," I said with a smile. "So, um, you're just here to talk right? Not to kidnap me?"

"For the moment," Tobi allowed.

"Cool," I said, patting the ground in front of me. Tobi tilted his head curiously as he sat down across from me.

"Whatchya wanna talk about?"

"How much do you know?" Tobi asked.

"I know a lot of things. I'm just that smart," I snickered. "Hey, are you blind in that eye?"

Tobi blinked at me. "Excuse me?"

"You have MS too? But your eyesight seems pretty good. Come on, I'm really curious. If you tell me this, I'll answer one of your own questions," I begged.

"I am not blind," Tobi answered. "Who am I?"

"Obito," I answered immediately.

Tobi stiffened, tensing as if he was preparing to attack. In the same instance I tensed myself, preparing to distance myself if necessary. While Tobi was a formidable foe, he wasn't a tank or heavy hitter. The only problem in fighting him was landing a hit, something I wouldn't worry about. I just had to make sure he didn't take me. To do that he'd have to make himself all the way here first. Then I could deliver a nasty blow and...

He didn't attack. He eyed me very carefully. "How do you know that?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," I murmured, being sure to no longer meet his eyes. It wouldn't do if he placed me under a genjutsu. While I was sure I could break it, as Tobi didn't specialize in genjutsu, it would still be pretty risky.

"Back with the Sanbi," Tobi said, his voice almost a low murmur. "Did you know then?"

"Always," I answered. "That's two. Why aren't you blind?"

"I only have one of my eyes," Tobi replied. "I gave my other Sharingan before it fully matured to someone I foolishly at the time considered a brother. When I gained the... MS, because not both of my eyes were with me and this one was damaged from the... fall... I acheived an abridged version of MS."

"That's why you don't have Susanoo," I concluded. "I was curious about that. Madara, Itachi and Sasuke could all achieve Susanoo but you couldn't. I wondered if it was also because you specifically didn't kill her?"

"That may have also been a variable," Tobi allowed. "Who else knows?"

"The Kage by now and Itachi," I replied. "But I wouldn't worry about that if I were you. Kabuto will bring back the real Madara in the war."

"I see. Why have you waited until the last moment to tell them such important information?" A touch of sincere curiousity was thrown into his tone. This caught me by surprise.

"You mean you haven't figured it out?" I blurted out, my eyes wide. "I mean, hasn't Zetsu or you noticed?"

He continued to stare at me.

"I... care for you a great deal," I confessed. "You and every other member of the Akatsuki. That's why I allowed none of them to die. Surely you've noticed _that_? No bodies? No word of prisoners from your various spies inside any of the villages? I wanted... I _want_ to give you and them a happy ending."

"And how could you see if we didn't have happy endings unless...?" Tobi mused. "... I see. You can see into the future? And would I be correct in guessing the past as well?"

"You're correct. But after the war my ability will be gone," I admitted.

"So you care for us," Tobi said, tilting his head as he continued to stare at me.

"A great deal," I murmured, shifting nervously.

"That is why you are comfortable with me. You assume that I will do you no harm."

"I don't assume that," I snickered. "I assume that I can evade you long enough for the others to arrive."

"Mm."

I closed my eyes and gave a small whine. "Stop it! You're voice is too sexy. Damn it, I refuse to be your fan girl. I'm Kisame-sama's."

Tobi peered at me. "I'm not _trying_ to make you give up on Kisame."

"You're still doing it! Stop it. Stop being so damn sexy."

Tobi stared at me before shaking his head, snickering quietly. I was determined not to cheat on Kisame.

_I'm Kisame-sama's fan girl. I'm Kisame-sama's fan girl. I'm Kisame-sama's fan girl. I will stay loyal. I will stay loyal. I will stay loyal. Why the hell is he _that _sexy? That's just not fair. I mean... I'm Kisame-sama's fan girl. I'm Kisame-sama's fan girl. I'm Kisame-sama's fan girl..._

"Why aren't you kidnapping me?" I asked, deciding to change the subject.

"What good would it do now?" Tobi retorted. "You already gave away the information I didn't want you to give away. I suppose killing you wouldn't so out there but I don't really care for pointless deaths."

"So we cool?" I smiled. "I mean in the sense that you aren't super pissed at me and won't try to specifically harm me before the war really starts?"

"In that sense I suppose so," Tobi drawled. "I'm annoyed at you though, more than anything. But in the long run it won't make a difference. I will succeed. I take it that you have Kisame with you?"

"With the other members of the Akatsuki, yes," I answered, very pleased that my third to second favorite person in the world didn't want to kill me.

"Momma!"

Both of our heads snapped towards the voice, only to find Naruto along with my Akatsuki, Sasuke, Itachi and Jiraiya rushing towards us.

I smiled at Tobi. "You still haven't told me your rainbow-stick story."

Tobi cocked his head. "Who knows. Maybe I'll kidnap you during the war and tell you the story then."

I considered this. "I think I'd like that very much, Tobito."

A chuckle escaped his mask as he stood up in a flourish, giving me a mock bow which I returned with a mock one of my own. "Until then, Sakura."

"Until then, Tobito," I teased as he left. Just in time for everyone else to show up.

"Momma!" Naruto exclaimed, pulling me into a tight hug. "Are you okay? What happened? Did he hurt you?"

"Tobito just wanted to talk," I assured him, hugging him tightly. "I'm fine. But hey, sweetie? If you could use your Therapy-Jutsu on him during the war, I'd love you for life."

"Kami, as if you need to add anyone else to your harem," Sasuke groaned.

"Don't be ridiculous. You can never have too much smexy boy toys around."

Sasori sighed. "Someone hit her for me. _Please_."

Sasuke obliged.

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

Dear Sakura,

You have a relationship with _hail_.

Of course you do.

I do not think I've had that sort of relationship with anyone, let alone any_thing_. About your previous questions though, no. I do not mistake Kankuro's gender despite the fact that he insists on wearing make up. I know him as my brother and cannot see him as anything other.

I've had very few battles since the exams, all those years ago, that have pushed me in the slightest. Only one pushed me to my limit and won and that was with Deidara. But then again, I had been restrained from more than half of my jutsus considering the place the bomber decided to engage me.

If I could change anything in the past?

Any one thing?

I wouldn't know. Perhaps, I would have liked to meet you and Naruto sooner.

Yours,

Gaara

* * *

_Before anyone asks, those questions in Gaara's letter was something a reviewer wanted to know but I didn't particularly feel like changing Sakura's letter, and seeing how I didn't give the Shippuden letters a specific time frame, those questions were asked on an off-chapter letter._

_And yeah, Tobi didn't kidnap her because that seemed too OoC for me. In the manga he seriously does not give a shit when people find out about his identity. Yeah, he didn't want them too but when Kabuto pulled a bitch-move and did it anyway he was like, 'Pfft. Fine. Whatever. I'll still kick your ass and look sexy while doing it, bitch.'_

_At least, that's how he came off to me. So I gave this Tobi the sort of... 'Well, shit. I can't exactly do anything about it now that she's gone and told every one. Whatever. I'll still kick ass.'_

_Next chapter... Kurama's meeting and what not._

_**BAD NEWS THOUGH... THAT YOU MIGHT JUST WANNA READ.**_

_The bad news is... I don't know if I'll be able to update any sooner than Saturday. Maybe even Sunday. Yes, yes. I know, I know. Horrible, horrible of me to do that when you all are seriously looking forward to the next chapter. But I can't help it. I've been trying my best to keep up with the updates despite Real-Life but Real-Life has decided to claim my time for the majority of the week._

_I'm very sorry. It's not even a good Real-Life reason. Trust me, if it was between Real-Life and Fanfiction this week, I'd choose Fanfiction in a heartbeat._

_So, once again sorry everyone. _

_**Answer: **Sasuke's Mary-Sue-ness and complete lack of common sense and utter selfishness. That seriously pisses me off to no end and for a long time I've been rooting for Manga-Sasuke to die. He's sort of redeeming himself in my eyes in the latest chapters through his willingness to open his mind a smidgeon more, but seriously. Don't you even get me started on Neji's... yeah. Or Sakura's selfishness. Damn, for a while there I was itching to bitch slap all of them but Naruto, Kurama and Hinata. _

_I absolutely adore the plot twists. They're just... so unpredictable and leave me sometimes mind-boggled how he comes up with it. It's impressive, to say the least. Some plot twists I could do without though..._

_**Question: **If you could bitch-slap, hug, or some other third thing, any three characters from Naruto, who would they be and what would you do?_

_Reviews are **love**._


	51. Cannon and Omakes

**PLEASE READ TO EXPLAIN THIS CHAPTER 'ELSE YOU'LL BE CONFUSED. Probably not but just to be safe... **

This chapter was definitely something I've been planning on for a while. It's the promised chapter that I used to bribe for my 1k voters as well as the chapter where I'll be trying to tie up loose ends.

**It goes in a pattern**.

Just like in the anime, there were 'filler episodes' before the war. I made my own 'filler' episodes.

The first part, where Sakura meets Kurama, is cannon. The following part after that will be an **_omake_**_. _Not prudent to the story. The following part after that will be cannon. Then omake. Then cannon. You see the pattern here?

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

^ Will seperate Cannon and Omakes.

That's all.

* * *

_"Yellow at a stoplight means: Floor it motherfucka."_

_-Anonymous_

**Disclaimer:** _I own no songs mentioned / used and I sure as heck don't own Naruto._

**_WARNING: _**_RATING CHANGE SORTA. Each omake will have a different rating to it. Nothing nasty will happen but there will be a bit of a mature humor in one of them... _

* * *

I stared determinedly at Naruto, Sasuke beside me. "Are you ready?"

Naruto gave me a nervous look, his gaze switching between myself and Sasuke. He licked his lips, shifting slightly. The three of us sat on our picnic blanket atop a tall grassy hill, no civilization for miles on reach. Just us, some food, and good ol' mother nature.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Momma?" Naruto asked hesitantly. "I mean, we don't have to do this if you don't want to…"

"Shh," I shushed him gently. "I'm his Momma too. I have to darling, don't you trust me?"

"We should do this now, before it's too late," Sasuke said, his Sharingan spinning quickly.

"Okay," Naruto said quietly. "Okay. Just say the word and I'll distract him from you, Momma. I don't want you to get hurt."

"I'll be fine," I assured him. "Now take me in, Duck-Ass."

Sasuke gave a smirk before his Sharingan eyes locked onto mine and my world bled into red and black.

A heartbeat passed before the two colors faded away and were replaced with a much more familiar scene.

The three of us stood before a caged Kurama.

I stared up at him, dark red eyes stared down at me and I saw the eerie glint of his sharp teeth as he smiled.

Naruto and Sasuke shifted beside me and I took a deep breath.

"Hi honey!" I chirped, waving my arm hyperactively at Kurama. "You know me, right? I'm your Momma!"

"**Foolish child**," Kurama taunted. "**Do you claim to tame me? I belong to no one, am no one's child and most certainly not **_**yours**_**.**"

"Aw don't be that way," I gasped. "I am too you're mother! You're just in denial! Remember, I'm the one that gave you that _adorable_ name. And as your mother I have to come do my job."

Kurama snarled, "**It was _you _that got the kit to start calling me that? You-**"

"Now please give me some room so I can enter your cage," I said.

At this, he stared at me. "**Oh? You truly wish to enter **_**my**_** cage? You are either the bravest fool I have ever met, or the most deranged one.**"

"She _is_ insane," Sasuke commented thoughtfully.

I shot him a glare. "You're one to talk Mr. I'm-Gonna-Run-Off-And-Let-Some-Creeper-Fuck-With-My-Body."

Sasuke gave me a loathful look. "Would you _stop_ making it sound like that? I went to him for _power_ not—"

"It's alright, Duck-Ass," I consoled him. "I understand. I'm not judging you. But I think it's time you came to terms with the fact that your body has been mol—"

"_It has not been molested!_"

Naruto and I exchanged a glance.

"Teme, I think you need to talk to someone about this," Naruto said as gently as he could. "This denial can _not_ be good for you."

Sasuke gave someone between a frustrated cry and annoyed grunt.

I turned back to Kurama. "Yes. Yes I will enter your cage but you have to _at least_ move back to give me some room."

Kurama gave another disturbing chuckle before I heard a commotion behind the cage and saw his eyes looked further away. I smiled. "Thank you sweetie. Alright boys, watch my back."

I then took off my weights, once more loving the feel of being so _light_ before I ran headfirst into the cage.

Almost immediately a red paw rushed towards me, forcing me to jump up in the air. Another paw shot towards me and I heard Kurama laugh in amusement as I was forced to push off from the paw to dodge.

I sprinted away from him, trying to get behind. I had a task to do and I'll be damned if I didn't do it.

"Naruto!" I called, signaling for my other son to put to use his distraction.

Another a moment passed before Kurama's attention was forced upon the massive army of Shadow Clones Naruto had summoned. I ducked and rolled behind Kurama, pulling out the small red scroll in my pocket and unrolling it.

I kicked off as high in the air as I could, soaring far higher above Kurama. Kurama was snarling at Naruto.

I shouted, "I'm sorry honey, Momma loves you very much but—"

I popped open the item inside the scroll. A special item I had made just for him.

"—possessing your brother is just simply not allowed—"

All of Kurama's tails were raised high above and he refused to look at me, but the way his ears were perked showed he was listening.

A giant mother f-ing paddle poofed into existence from the scroll. I grabbed the handle.

"—and I want you to know this hurts Momma more than it hurts you."

Using all of my strength I swung the paddle hard and a resounding _smack_ echoed throughout the entire cage.

Pure and utter silence descended.

Kurama, frozen stiff with shock did nothing.

Naruto, wide-eyed and gaping, stared in absolute disbelief.

Sasuke, gaping for a moment shook his head and muttered, "She would… she _so_ would."

The paddle disappeared from existence and I rushed back out of the cage calling over my shoulder after blowing a kiss, "I love you darling, Kurama! But please behave yourself next time or Momma might not be so lenient as to do it only once!"

And after grabbing Naruto and Sasuke, the three of us were taken out of that world back to our own before Kurama could recover from shock.

Naruto and Sasuke stared at me.

"You…" Naruto gaped. "You _spanked_ the Kyūbi."

"Of course I did; I'm his mother."

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

**(Omake - 1)**

**Warning: **_Slightly mature humor. I'm not sure if this is just a **high-rated T** or what. It's the same reference the anime makes with Jiraiya and peeping. Skip if you don't wanna risk it._

I stared down at the scene, scowling in frustrated annoyance.

"S-S-S-S-S-S-Sa-Sa-k-k-k-kura-ch-chan...? A-A-A-A-are y-y-y-y-y-ou s-s-s-sure th-this i-i-i-is o-o-o-o-o-kay?" Hinata stuttered, her face already a bright, bright red and she looked on the verge of fainting. I knew she was resisting, but I also knew how delicate she was and understood and acknowledged that this wasn't exactly a normal scenario.

Well for her anyway.

"Why am I letting you do this?" Sasori muttered to himself, closing his eyes and giving out something between an annoyed sigh and grunt.

"Because you love," I stated, giving another frustrated grunt as entertainment had _yet_ to happen.

Hinata whimpered, peeking through her fingers from her perch on the tree down below.

"I knew that Jiraiya would be a bad influence on you," Sasori continued to mutter, ignoring me. "I knew you were insane. But Kami... _really?_"

"Guys can do it, why can't I?" I retorted, staring down fixedly.

A moment passed.

There, right below us was the males' hotspring. Inside of it were the rest of the Akatsuki along with the male members of Team Kakashi (Team 7).

Yes. I was totally peeping on them. But it wasn't like I could see much anyway. They weren't even _doing_ anything.

"What the hell is this bullshit!" I finally cried out, revealing myself to them as I leapt up onto the tree branch. Eyes snapped up in my direction and Hinata gave a strangled cry of horror while Sasori sighed, irritated.

"Momma?!" Naruto squeaked, his eyes bulging before he noticed Hinata. "_Hinata-chan!?_"

Hinata fainted.

"Damn it! You guys are so boring! Why aren't you doing anything?" I howled, scowling furiously at them. "At least the girls did something for Shisho!... Sometimes. Damn it, what the hell?!"

Hidan snorted before giving a lecherous grin. "If you're so fucking bored, why don't you join us?"

"No," Itachi said immediately, glaring at Hidan.

I considered this. "Well... Yeah, sure alright."

"No!" Sasori hissed, grabbing my legs and yanking me away. I cried out in shock before my arms wrapped around the tree branch as Sasori started a tug of war with me. "That's too inappropriate! No. No. _No_."

"Sasori-no-Danna," I whined. "Don't keep me from the hot sweaty men! That's just cock-blocking of the worse caliber!"

If anything, Sasori just redoubled his efforts to pull me away.

In a flicker of motion, I noticed that Sasuke now stood in front of me, towel wrapped tight around his waist as he glared darkly at me.

I looked up at him, raising an eyebrow.

He firmly kicked me away.

"Ouch! You ass!" I cried out, reflexively clutching my forehead where he kicked me.

* * *

**(Third Person POV) **

Once Sakura had left along with Sasori and Hinata, Sasuke turned to Naruto who was curled up in fetal position, rocking back in forth.

Sasuke stared at him another moment before shrugging. He'd let Naruto stay in his little emo corner for a while longer. The poor boy was probably scarred for life.

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

**(Third Person POV )**

It was a bright and sunny day in Konoha for the shinobi. They sat, far out of the village alone in a vast grassy field that overlooked the village. The shinobi sat perfectly straight up, his legs relaxed before him as he stared down at the second shinobi. His name was Sasuke. The second shinobi was actually female, a kunoichi, with shockingly bright pink hair. Her name was Sakura.

"So," Sakura hummed, a smile curling at her lips. "I heard you've officially turned down every single girl in Konoha."

"Not _every _girl. Hinata hasn't bothered. And so what if I have?" Sasuke asked incredulously.

"Nothing. Just saying it'll be hard to repopulate your clan if you're so picky."

"I do not date fan girls. At all. _Ever_. Find me a sensible woman who's not attracted to me for shallow reasons then we can talk." Sasuke paused before he sighed. "Yes. I know."

Sakura fell silent for a moment or two, mulling over her thoughts. "Alright, tell you what. If we're both still single by 27 and ready to settle down and shit, we can be each other's rebounds."

Sasuke paused, considering this as he eyed his teammate. "... I can agree to that."

"Coolness," Sakura hummed. "Oh hey, so just to be clear, Naruto would be our godfather right? For our babies?"

Sasuke snorted. "Don't be absurd. It'd be Aniki."

Sakura frowned. "No. It'd be Naruto. It'd _have _to be Naruto. Can you seriously imagine him _not_ being our godfather for our hypothetical babies?"

"Yes," Sasuke said bluntly. "Can you imagein Itachi not being the godfather for our future-hypothetical babies?"

"Yes," Sakura retorted. "Naruto."

"Itachi."

"Naruto."

"Itachi."

"_Naruto_."

"_Itachi_."

"Naruto!"

"_Itachi._"

Sakura was about to tackle the little prick into the ground and attempt to _reason _with him in a more _diplomatic_ way when a thought crossed her mind. "Okay. How about whoever chooses the godfather... the other gets to choose the name?"

Sasuke paused thoughtfully. "... What would you name them?"

"Wormsheinerdoombringer VIII," Sakura said immediatley, her eyes locking with his.

Sasuke was about to snort at this when he noticed her expression and tone. He paled. "Oh Kami you're _serious._"

* * *

Naruto hummed thoughtfully to himself as he headed off to meet Sakura and Sasuke at their usual meeting spot. Just as he entered the clearing though, he was treated to the rare sight of Sasuke actually bothering to raise his voice and Sakura looking uncharacteristically pissed off.

"_Naruto you fucking ass!_"

"_Itachi you insane bitch!_"

"_You merde succion putain, Naruto!_" **(1)**

"_Itachi you flat-chested loser!_"

Naruto stared at them for another moment as the two continued to screech at each other before sighing, turning away and heading off to find Hinata.

Just as he turned away, he could hear Sakura screeching before tackling into Sasuke.

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

**(Omake - 2)**

**Warning: **_T-Rated._

"Hi Kakashi-sensei," I greeted slyly, sitting down next to him.

The two of us were now leaning against a shaded tree, Naruto and Sasuke having finished their spar and off to grab dinner and bring it back to us.

Kakashi glanced up at me, raising a thin eyebrow. "Hello Sakura-chan."

"So Kakashi," I began. "I was wondering if you would be _oh so kind_ as to show me your face."

Kakashi chuckled. "I don't quite think that'll be happening."

I paused, considering this. "What if I made you?"

Kakashi eyed me, amusement clear on his face. He obviously thought I couldn't. "Sakura, if you can do that, you _deserve _to see my face."

"Any rules?" I asked, my sly grin reforming.

"My home is off limits," Kakashi said immediatley. "Otherwise than that... feel free."

"Wonderful," I chirped, throwing my arms around him and hugging him tightly. Kakashi chuckled again before he stiffened, froze and slumped over-unconscious.

When I pulled my arms back, I held up a thin poisoned needle.

"Thank you Sasori and Doku," I said appreciatively before pulling back Kakashi's masks and looking at his face.

I studied it, my nose twitching as I rubbed it and sniffled.

"Well... damn."

* * *

"I should have seen that coming," Kakashi muttered as he allowed me to piggy-back him back to my house.

"You should have," I agreed. "And now I have perfect blackmail. Not even Gai has seen your face, right?"

"Right," Kakashi sighed.

"Seen who's face?" Naruto asked, catching up to us after bidding Hinata goodnight (we had run into them and Naruto, of course, had to talk to Hinata and her team).

"Kakashi's," I answered smugly.

Naruto froze before his eyes zeroed in on mine. "Tell me. Now."

"Don't," Kakashi warned.

My grin widened considerably. "You'll have to buy my silence, Kakashi-_chan_."

Kakashi groaned and Naruto snickered.

* * *

"Slave, bring us more dango!" I ordered as Hinata and I lounged about.

"Yes, Sakura," Kakashi sighed.

"Yes, _what?_"

Kakashi scowled at me. "Yes, _mistress_."

"Good boy," I praised as Kakashi muttered under his breath and headed away to fetch us more dango.

"H-How much longer will he be like this?" Hinata whispered.

"He's got a good solid month before I get tired of this," I answered, smiling very happily.

"P-Poor Kakashi-sensei..."

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

"What do you _mean _you're ditching your own mother on today of all days?" I asked furiously, scowling at Naruto.

"I'm sorry!" Naruto exclaimed. "I know all of us made promises to stay with each other on today so we wouldn't have to worry about all the extra drama but that was before I knew Hinata was actually going to be in the village today. I _have_ to spend time with her-it's Valentine's Day!"

My scowl never wavered. "First Duck-Ass backs out and now _you_? What about me? I don't want to be that one loser alone on Valentine's Day, especially when I have my own damn harem. That's just not right."

"It's not my fault all of your harem is out of the village today," Naruto retorted.

I groaned. "Bcak to my point though-_seriously_ Naruto? _Seriously_? You're doing this to me today of all days... _seriously_?"

Naruto winced. "I know that this is your only day off and you were really looking forward..."

"_Understatement of the century._"

"Iloveyousomuch?" Naruto asked weakly.

I sniffed. "What about Kurama?"

"He's still... touchy about your punishment."

"Well if he had behaved himself I wouldn't have punished him."

"I know, I know. I'm not taking his side on this but... you know how he is."

I sighed. "Fine. Go. Leave me... _all alone_... on today of all days... go make me some god-babies. Or grandchildren. Both."

Naruto's face took on a bright red hue. "M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-!"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it, I get it. '_Mo-om! We're innocent! Never mind the fact that we're hormonal teenagers. We're perfect little angels.'_"

"I love you?" Naruto asked again, sheepish.

"Get out."

* * *

"Sakura?"

My eyes widened at the familiar voice and I whirled around, facing Gaara of all people. He was in his Kazekage robes, though his hat was nowhere in sight. I stared at him, not bother to hide my incredulous look. "What are you doing in the Hokage Tower, Gaara? Better yet, what are you doing in _Konoha?_"

"It was a last minute plan. I believe I forgot to mention it to you in our latest letters," Gaara replied. "Tsunade-dono and I have just finished adjusting our trade plans to better suit the new influence of the economy."

"I... see. So what are you doing now?"

"Nothing in particular," Gaara answered. "I ran into Naruto and Hinata earlier and Naruto mentioned you were upset about something. Is there anything I can do?"

I flushed, a mixture from still lingering anger at being ditched, and mild embarressment at the situation. Still...

"Maybe," I admitted. "I'm just a little annoyed at being ditched on today of all days."

Gaara blinked. "What's today of all days?"

"Valentine's Day," I answered, my brow furrowed. "How the hell can you _not_ know that? Haven't you been mobbed by your fan girls for chocolate yet?"

"That explains it," Gaara observed.

"Explains what?"

Gaara pointed to the giggling gaggle of girls who had somehow gathered on the far end of the hallway, staring intently at Gaara.

"Yep. That does indeed explain it," I agreed.

"What's the point in Valentine's Day?" Gaara asked curiously.

"It's usually time for... people who care a great deal about each other to spend time together."

"And you are upset that no one seems to care enough about you to spend time with you?" Gaara guessed.

I blinked at that, considering it. "I suppose that does take a play in it. But mostly I'm just upset at being ditched when we had this thing planned out for _weeks_. But, yeah, I guess I'm a little offended to be alone."

Gaara gave me a thoughtful look. "I care a great deal about you, and you care a great deal about me. I have nothing else to do for the day, why do we not... 'spend time together'?"

"Like a date?" I blurted out, my eyebrows raised in surprise.

"If that is what you want it to be."

I shrugged. "It's what Valentine's Day is usually about. Alright... sure."

Gaara gave a thin smile. "Where shall we go first?"

"Mm... the movies. You know, I just now realized this will technically be my first date. Cool."

* * *

I was giggling like crazy while Gaara and I walked back to my apartment, it was nearly midnight by the time the two of us ran out of things to do. All in all, it was actually a very... fun time.

"Promise?" I persisted, grinning like mad.

Gaara shook his head, amusement in his tone. "Yes, Sakura. I promise the next time you come to Suna I will do this... _sand surfing_ with you."

"Yes! That is going to be just so totally awesome."

"And just where have you been?"

Gaara and I stopped before my front door, Kakashi, Sasuke, and... Naruto and Jiraiya standing in front of it, scowling at us.

"... On a date," I answered, staring at them. "What fuck are you doing at my home? Furthermore... why the Hell were you _in_ my home?"

"Naruto was worried when you didn't come back after a while," Kakashi answered. "So he grabbed Sasuke, who then grabbed me who was with Jiraiya and we looked a bit. What do you mean date?"

"I took Sakura out on a date," Gaara supplied.

"It's past your curfew young lady," Jiraiya said, trying and failing to hold a dissaproving tone.

"... This is so weird," I decided. "All of you, get the fuck out of my apartment. Gaara, it was fun. See you tomorrow?"

"Yes," Gaara responded. I smiled and kissed his cheek. He returned my smile with one of his own before departing.

"The hell was that!" Naruto exclaimed. "Mommy that was totally inapprorpiate."

"Did he at least buy you dinner?" Kakashi asked.

Sasuke sighed, choosing to scowl at the sky. "Why is my team full of idiots?"

"Are you guys jealous?" I snickered.

Naruto huffed. "Mom!"

I rolled my eyes, moving forward before kissing all of their cheeks. "There. Guys, I love you all very much. You guys are definitely the only people I really consider family. But seriously, shut up and get the fuck out. I want to sleep. And if you guys break into my apartment again I swear I'll Hidan that you all think Jashin-sama sucks."

Needless the say, they never did break into my apartment again. As far as I know anyway.

But then I thought back over to my first date and I felt a little giddy inside.

Maybe Gaara would be up for another one soon?

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

**(Omake 3)**

**Warning: **_Rated T._

"A!" I declared passionately, jumping up onto the Raikage's desk.

A snorted, staring (or glaring, I _really _couldn't tell the difference between the two with him) at me. "Sakura."

"Seeing how I'm in Kumo, I have decided to act upon our rivalry!" I exlcaimed. "I challenge you!"

"What's the challenge?" A asked curiously. "I could use the break from paperwork anyway."

"Whoever can piss off the most people within an hour," I decided.

A snickered. "This sounds like fun. Rules?"

"No killing or maiming of anyone. Other than that? Nope! Our time starts... now!"

And with an energetic leap, I threw myself out his window.

Doors were for people with no imagination.

* * *

"Come on Shisho," I hummed, guiding Jiraiya through the streets of Kumo. "I'm going to make you a very happy guy."

Jiraiya chuckled. "I'm not sure how you can do that... is that Kumo hotsprings?"

"Mm-hmm. There's a kunoichi convention in Kumo going and the hotsprings are jammed pack."

Already, Jiraiya was drooling in the direction of the hotsprings. There was but a thin layer of tall rock between him and roughly eighty-nine naked kunoichi (I counted). I positioned him right in front of the rock.

"It will only last a few seconds before it's over," I warned him. "I already asked Naruto to ask the Chief Toad to reverse-summon you in exactly forty seconds so you won't be killed. But in those precious few seconds, you will be on very happy guy."

"Mm-hmm."

I then hopped up onto the rock wall, grinning widely and channeling chakra towards my throat to enhance my voice. "Hello ladies! My name is Haruno Sakura and it's my job for the hour to piss off as many people as I can. So... sorry about this, but I have no intentions of losing."

I then channeled chakra into my fist and slammed it into the rock tower, completely destroying it.

I hopped away, snickering quietly as Jiraiya nose practically became a bloody waterfall at the view he was seeing. That lasted a few seconds before screams of outrage indicated the women had noticed him, along with squeals of embarressment. As I hurried away before they could notice me, I gave a satisfied smirk that Jiraiya had poofed away via summoning before the women could reach him.

Eighty-nine Sakura. Zero A.

* * *

"Kakashi-sensei!" I exclaimed, rushing over to him, my face morphing into rather sullen look. Kakashi looked up from reading his Icha Icha, frowning slightly through his mask upon seeing my face.

"Is something wrong Sakura-chan?" Kakashi asked.

"It's horrible," I sniffled, rubbing my eyes. "Shisho... Shisho decided to give up writing Icha Icha!"

Kakashi paled and blanched. "_What? _No way would he do that-right? Right."

"Wrong," I muttered. "Tsunade-sama promised to go on three dates with him if he did. And you know how long Jiraiya's been in love with her..."

Kakashi's face paled even more so. "No... No way... Not my porn. Oh _Kami _no! There has to be something we can do."

I hesitated. "Well..."

Kakashi latched onto that word. "Well?"

"_Well_... Tsunade-sama said he'd let him continue writing if someone really showed their declartion of love for the series... It'd have to be soon too because the deal starts tomorrow."

Kakashi nodded slightly. "What can we do?"

I paused, pretending to think it over. "I have just the idea."

* * *

"Um... Sakura-chan... are you sure that this is a good idea?"

I nodded my head, standing next to Kakashi on top of the Raikage tower. "Together on the count of three."

"One..."

"Two..."

"Three..."

While Kakashi used chakra to enhance the sound of his voice, I stealthily snuck away, unnoticed. "I, Hatake Kakashi, am a huge addict for the Icha Icha series. I humbly beg all my fellow pervets to band together and prove our love to the Icha Icha series so it may not stop writing!"

It was about then that Kakashi noticed I wasn't saying this with him. He turned to face me, momentarily ignoring the large crowd of people that had gathered to watch. "... Sakura-chan is there a reason you're hiding."

"Yes," I admitted. "Because I totally punk'd you."

"... I see. I'm going to kill you now."

"So you're mad at me?"

"Beyond."

"Victory for me then!"

Then I stared at Kakashi's hand which had clapped together, his two index fingers sticking out in his infamous jutsu.

I paled. "Oh God don't ass rape like you did to Naruto."

Kakashi took a step closer.

I squeaked before turning on my heels and fleeing.

* * *

"Duck-Ass," I hummed. "You know you have fan girls stalking you right? I think they want to jump you."

Sasuke looked up from his scroll, raising a single eyebrow at me. "I know. I've been ignoring them. Have they gone away yet-or do they look like they will any time soon?"

"No," I admitted, staring at the mob of girls (and a few boys) who were very much leering at Sasuke.

I sat down next to him, slinging my arm around his shoulders.

He stared at me. "What are you doing?"

I pricked his shoulder with my poisoned needle.

He stared at me another moment before pure fury lit up in his eyes and slacked over, paralyzed.

"I need enough time to start my bargaining," I explained. "I don't want you interrupting my deals. Oh, you probably _should _keep better guard of your clothes by the way. So very easy to get to."

I raised my voice, pulling out of my pocket a pair of clean boxers before holding them up to the fan girls (and boys). "Ladies and gentlemen, I have hear a pair of Uchiha boxers. Who wants them? Cash only."

The mob was quick to surround me, each of them shouting out answers while I smiled gleefully.

* * *

"Ha!" I cheered. "In one hour I managed to piss off one hundred people!"

A gave me a sly grin. "I still have five minutes left don't I?"

"You do," I admitted. "But it won't do you any good! You haven't pissed off a single person!"

A only chuckled patronizingly before opening the window to his office. In a loud booming voice he said, "I, the Raikage now declare all women are to be naked from the waist up unless they are over the age of fifty. No one wants to see that shit if they are. I declare all men to be castrated, with the exception of me, effective immediately. This is the new law... starting... now."

There was a moment of silence.

Pure. Utter. Rage.

Screeches of outrage and shock rang out all around the village and I gaped at the Raikage.

I slumped forward, my head hanging low.

"I admit defeat," I sniffled. "That was just... damn."

A nodded his head, smirking. He then leaned out the window. "I apologize everyone, that was just a joke by my good friend. There is no such law. Continue on about your day."

He shut the window, patted me on my head and left the office.

"Damn..." I muttered. "All of that for nothing... Oh well, better go hide before Duck-Ass, Kakashi, that mob of women, and those other people find me."

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

Naruto stared in silent horror at the crater that was once Konoha. Even after the frog had confirmed it, as well as Jiraiya, some part of him just couldn't wrap his brain around it. The beautiful and lively place that was his home… turned to this? All from one person? Well, one attack really… but… still.

How could this be?

With his sage mode, he searched the parameters of Konoha, wondering if anyone was still alive. He begged for his friends and precious people to be found.

He could only find a handful of them. Hinata. Tsunade. Shizune. Neji. Lee. Tenten. Gai.

His eyes closed and his stomach churned. Fear rode through him and he desperately hoped he was wrong. He begged he was wrong.

"Pervy-Sage?" Naruto inquired, his eyes still closed as he fought to rein in his emotions. "Is Momma and Teme… and Kakashi-sensei out on a mission right now? Are they… out of Konoha… right now?"

Silence greeted him.

Naruto bit back a dry sob, choosing instead to channel a more productive emotion. Anger. His eyes snapped open and never before had he felt such intense hatred. It left a bitter taste in his mouth. He stared loathfully at the one named Pein.

He wanted to kill him.

He _would_ kill him.

"Pervy-Sage," Naruto began, his voice rough. He fought to keep a hold on his anger. He couldn't let it overtake him just yet. From the information Jiraiya had given him, he knew he first needed to take out the resurrecting one first, followed by the chakra absorber and the summoner. "We need a plan."

"Aa," Jiraiya agreed, staring down at Pein with an almost nostalgic glint in his eyes. But with that glint came a cold fury. He was angry too.

Good.

First he needed to take down the resurrection one. That was first and foremost. But as his eyes scanned the number of Peins presented to him, he realized two were missing. Thinking back to his knowledge, he concluded the village had successfully taken down the resurrection one, as well as the ninjutsu-absorber one.

Not entirely surprisingly, really. It was the _entire_ village against him. Of course they had to have taken _at least_ two down. It was his village. He didn't expect anything less than that.

Granted, he would have preferred if they had taken all of him down before he did so much damage but this wasn't a perfect world.

If it was, _they_ would still be alive.

That left… the summoner, the gravitational one, the machine, and the mind-raper.

Naruto closed his eyes. "Pervy-Sage."

Jiraiya shifted his head ever so slightly, his eyes never leaving the enemy.

"Do you remember… when Momma and I were training? Momma wanted to practice fighting multiple enemies so we tag teamed her. Do you remember what we did?"

"Aa," Jiraiya confirmed. "Sakura already confirmed Pein would be susceptible to genjutsu. Ma, Pa, do you think you could cast it?"

"It will take some time," Pa said.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Naruto growled, anger flashing through him. He could feel it coursing through his veins, the hot burning sensation. The fox wanted out—Kurama, Sakura called him. Naruto couldn't ever put that name to him though. Some part of him still resented him, and hated for what that damn fox did to her and the Pervy-Sage during training. So he referred to him as either _fox_ or _Fluffy_. Because he hated that name.

Naruto surged forward, everything slowing down into perfect clarity from his sage-mode. The first one surged forward—the summoner – while the others stayed back, still guarding the gravitational Pein. Naruto recalled vaguely Jiraiya telling him that after using such a massive attack he would be rendered useless for the majority of the battle.

It would make sense to take him out as soon as possible, before he could do any damage. But that wouldn't do. The other paths would guard him zealously to the point Naruto wouldn't even bother. Right now, Naruto's only focus was to eliminate as many of the other hostiles as he could so he could put his entire focus on the gravitational one.

The summoner wasted no time in summoning a dog, a bird, and a rhino. Granted, they all looked like some modified grotesque thing of their former selves but… Naruto didn't even give them thought, rushing straight towards them. He could feel the larger toads leaping into action, intent on distracting the summons.

As Gamabunta kicked the dog into the air, leaping up after it, Naruto engaged in a taijutsu bout with the summoner.

From what Jiraiya had told him, taijutsu would be nearly useless so long as all of the other paths present could see the battle. So Naruto opted to use a move that couldn't be seen.

With his sage mode, Naruto attempted a round house kick. The summoner bent away from the kick, effectively dodging it. What it did not anticipate was the sudden surge in nature chakra to slam into its gut, sending it flying away. Naruto quickly followed after it, two Rasengans spiraling in his hands as he launched towards it.

The machine one attempted to engage Naruto then. Naruto barely had a moment to dodge the missiles fired off at him. Naruto's eyes narrowed and he felt another strong surge of blind anger. He had to grit his teeth to hold it back. He landed on the ground, creating two clones before throwing down a red smokescreen. While one clone stayed in the smoke, another leapt up into the air. Naruto himself dove underground, recalling the underground walking training both he and Sakura had to go through. It was actually the final step in chakra control exercises they had gone through. After water walking, Jiraiya was adamant they knew how to maneuver underground.

Naruto was thankful for that training now.

Using his sage mode, he hurried his way towards the summoner. His first clone that had rushed out had popped and he regained its memories.

It had engaged in a taijutsu bout with the machine. It had lost, obviously, but it was enough to keep the machine distracted. It knew that the clone that had stayed behind was making another clone to engage in a battle with the machine. Naruto knew he had to make sure they didn't expect him underground. They couldn't see him here. It was his once-time-working attack.

He was just underneath the summoner now. He kicked off from under the ground, his fist connecting squarely with the summoner's jaw. But before the summoner could go flying up, Naruto grabbed its neck twisting and throwing him into the ground while at the same motion, snapping its neck.

He let the corpse drop from his hands, eyes blazing as his last clones popped away.

The animals summoned poofed away and Naruto regained a defensive position in front of Jiraiya who held a defensive position in front of Ma and Pa.

Naruto winced when the two toads began to cast their genjutsu (they had waited until Naruto would take down the summoner so the other toads could be used as a better defense). The gravitational corpse stared back at the toads before a brief look of recognition crossed its face. Its eyes narrowed. The mind-raper and machine both rushed towards the toads but Naruto quickly ran to intercept them. He was running out of time with his Sage Mode.

He summoned two clones before forming the Rasenshuriken and hurling it towards them. The mass of sheer chakra wasted no time in descending upon them but the Machine was quick. It fired off a massive flamethrower at the ground, lurching itself into the air while grabbing hold of the mind-raper in the same motion. Naruto grit his teeth as the Rasenshuriken exploded, but missed its targets.

The song was nearly complete.

Naruto felt a grim smile at that. It didn't matter if it had missed. Once they were placed in a genjutsu, it was all over.

Or so he thought until the gravitational path got its damn powers back.

Just as Naruto smiled, the corpse flexed its fingers experimentally, holding them up to its face. He extended a hand towards the toads. "_Shinra Tensei._"

Naruto's smile slipped as the toads were thrown away along with Jiraiya and even he was knocked back a few feet. His eyes widened when he saw the machine launch a massive missile towards them.

"_Get away!_" Naruto shouted out the warning but it was too late.

The missile made contact into the ground, causing a massive explosion that sent Naruto thrown back further away and into the ground, wincing as the air left him forcibly. Dust clouded the majority of the clearing and by the time Naruto was back up and standing it had cleared away.

The toads were lying sprawled, bleeding massively. Naruto's eyes searched for the elderly ones, finding them next to a bleeding Jiraiya. Jiraiya looked otherwise unharmed but there was a massive cut across his forehead.

Naruto's hands clenched into fists as he lost the last of his Sage Mode chakra.

Jiraiya noticed immediately and held out his arms. Naruto yanked the scroll off his back, hurtling it towards Jiraiya. The man wasted no time in unrolling it and summoning a clone.

It was not a moment too soon did that clone dispel before Naruto felt a massive pull towards him.

As Naruto was lurched forward towards the gravitational corpse he twisted his body, his hands flying up into handseals as he did the only real other useful ninjutsu he could use.

As he did it, Naruto felt an almost bitter smile twist over his face.

_This one's for you, Momma. Because Kami knows you would do this exact same thing if you were in my position. Hell, you'd have probably popped it out straight from the beginning. _

"Oiroke-no-jutsu!"

The sudden transformation from Naruto to voluptuous woman, actually caused an amusing reaction on the corpse. A look of utter horror crossed its face and the jutsu faded—though Naruto was still hurtling towards the bastard from the momentum it caused. Naruto successfully landed a solid chakra-packed punch against it, sending it flying back.

Naruto poofed back to his normal self.

"Why is that the more powerful a shinobi, the more perverted they are," Naruto wondered. "Pretty sure this one would have had a nosebleed if it could."

Naruto narrowly ducked a punch from the mind-raper corpse and used nature chakra to deliver a solid blow into its stomach, knocking it towards Jiraiya who delivered a fatal Rasengan.

Two more to go.

Naruto felt a small twinge of chakra from Tsunade. Jiraiya landed next to Naruto, still bleeding heavily.

"Go to Baa-chan," Naruto ordered softly. "You're still exhausted staying up all night training me. You don't have Fluffy's chakra to push you through this. Baa-chan's worried sick. I've got this. Tell the toads to go back home too, well except one of them. I know I'll need someone to summon my last clone."

Jiraiya grunted, seeming to think over Naruto's order. "… I know you can handle this. I'm sorry I can't be of much help."

"Go comfort Baa-chan."

Jiraiya closed his eyes, weighing his options. "I'll come back. Don't go too crazy. Remember yourself."

Naruto didn't respond to that, just rushing forward to engage with the machine. After two more clones were summoned and dismissed, two Rasengans spiraled in both of his hands. The machine ducked underneath the first one but Naruto landed the second one, ending that corpse.

Naruto felt another pull and soon found himself hurtling back towards the gravitational corpse.

Naruto grit his teeth, his hands closing into fists.

It was one on one now.

That was fine by him.

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

**(Omake 4)**

**Warning: **_T and K+_

From the living room you could hear the start of a song beginning to play, the introduction being a piano.

Sasori looked up from his book, his eyes narrowed into irritation.

As the music went on for a few more seconds, three figures slid out into view on the wooden floor. Each of them wore a pair of socks, and a white shirt. And from the way things were going, Sasori would bet they were wearing sunglasses too. For the moment they had their backs turned to him.

Just as lyrics started to sing, the three figures turned around in synch.

"_Juts take those old records off the shelf-"_

Deidara, Sakura and Hidan began to sing along.

"_I should of listened to them by myself-"_

Sasori hurled a kunai at the stereo, effectively destroying it.

"No," Sasori deadpanned.

* * *

"Why did we agree to this again?" Nagato asked. The Akatsuki along with the Rookie 9 (plus Gai's team), were sitting in a fairly wide circle. Only Naruto was seen to be standing up, tapping everyone on the head once as he continued to go arond.

"Because it's fun and we're all bored," Sakura supplied.

"Shinobi... Shinobi... Shinobi..." Naruto continued on.

"And the person who catches the 'missing-nin' the fastest wins whoever they want as a slave for a week, un," Deidara said.

"That too," Sakura commented.

"Shinobi... Shinobi... Shinobi... Missing-nin!" Naruto exclaimed, tapping Sakura's head. Sakura lurched up from her spot, chasing after her son before tackling him right before he made it to the safety spot.

"Eight seconds. That beats Hidan's by about one," Ino said.

Sakura grinned. "Oh hell yeah."

Naruto grumbled under his breath as Sakura began to tap everyone's head, going around the circle. "Shinobi... Shinobi... Shinobi..."

Just as she reached Kakuzu, she tapped the miser on the head. "Missing-nin!"

And just as she was flickering away, Kakuzu grabbed her ankle making her face vault into the floor.

"I win," Kakuzu muttered.

"Not even a full second," Kiba grumbled. "Damn it Sakura, you slow ass."

"Mmmmph-mmph-mph!" Sakura yelled, her face still connected to the floor.

* * *

Sakura stared at Kurama.

Kurama stared at Sakura.

"Sit boy!"

"**Go to Hell**."

* * *

**(Spoilers - Chapter 572 in the manga)**

"Where are we?" Naruto asked curiously to Kurama. Then his eyes widened upon seeing just how they weren't alone.

It was _all _of the other bijuu and their jinchuuriki.

Even though Naruto was currently at war with Tobi, even though he had been swallowed by the four-tails... he couldn't stop himself from smiling so brightly at them. This was just _too cool_.

"**Uzumaki Naruto**," intoned Kurama. "**This isn't the same place the four-tails was. We're now completely linked with the other jinchuuriki. See for yourself?**"

"I don't really understand what you're saying but the spikes are gone and the masked man isn't here so we can relax more in this time right?" Naruto demanded.

"_**He**_** cannot reach us here,**" Kurama confirmed.

"Thanks for coming," Yagura said. "As the rep-"

"**Wait,**" Kurama said. "**There is one other coming.**"

"What?" Fuu asked, her brow furrowed. "But... we're all the jinchuuriki here."

"Hi everyone!"

Naruto whirled around, gaping at Sakura. "M-_Mom?_"

"Hi sweetie," Sakura cooed. "How's everything going? Kisame-sama says hi, by the way. We're almost finished with our part also."

"**What is she doing here?**" Yagura's bijuu asked.

Kurama gave him an incredulous look, frowning. "**She's our mother. Of course I invited her**."

"Hi darlings," Sakura said, waving her hand.

"**This is my mother everyone,**" Kurama introduced her. "**Sakura.**"

"**So wait... does that make her our mother too**?" Chōmei asked.

"I always wanted a big family."

It was then that Sakura noticed the ex-Mizukage. She paled, gasping in horror. "Oh _no! _This is _terrible!_"

Yagura gave her an incredulous look.

"You're _hot_," Sakura said, as if that alone explained her reaction.

"... Thanks?" Yagura replied hesitantly. "That's an issue... why?"

"Because then there's one less hot guy in the world today and that's just sad. I need to go cry myself to sleep now."

Kurama and Naruto sighed.

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

Sakura leaned in towards Itachi, her gloved fingers brushing over his eyes as they glowed a pale green. "Hmm. Tsunade-sama's therapy seems to be working well for you. Not only has your eyes stopped decaying from the inside out, but your vision seems to have improved. Even if only minutely."

Itachi gave Sakura at small smile. "Thank you, Lilly-san."

Sakura's nose crinkled at her name. "If you're going to insist on calling me that name in private, at least drop the honorific."

Sakura pulled back, pressing a hand against his chest. Her hand glowed green once more before she pulled it back, a contemplative look on her face. "Shirt off."

Itachi stared at her. "Excuse me?"

"Shirt off. I need to check something."

"I thought medical-nin could do those types of things with clothing on," Itachi said dryly.

"Oh they can," Sakura agreed, smiling sweetly. "I just like looking at your abs. Clearly. No. Seriously, shirt off. I don't want to risk botching this up because my chakra mistook something from the materials in your shirt."

Itachi continued to stare at her.

"Start stripping or I will schedule you for a prostate," Sakura threatened.

"You wouldn't. I don't need one," Itachi retorted.

Sakura gave him another mocking smile. "Oh but you do. After all you were out of the village for so long and not properly treated by certified medical-nin that you can prove. Who knows what kind of _horrors_ you've been through that you've just repressed to the point you have no memory of? And I, your _loving _and _caring_ doctor just couldn't _bear_ the risk of not giving you such an important exam. In fact I would be so _distraught_ that I couldn't give it to you myself, asking instead one of my nurses-your fan girls-to do it. Not to mention my _kind_ and _supportive_ teacher, Tsunade-sama would back me up one hundred percent."

Itachi appeared faintly disturbed. "... Just my shirt?"

"Just your shirt," Sakura assured him.

As Itachi stripped his shirt off, Sakura placed her hands once more on his chest, her brow furrowed. A full minute passed before she withdrew it, her brow furrowed. "I don't like the feel of your chakra network surrounding your heart... I'm scheduling you for another appointment tomorrow. I want to run some tests."

Itachi pulled his shirt back on, frowning thoughtfully. "That was a nice catch then, Lilly... chan."

Sakura gave him a smile. "It's my job. I don't want one of my precious people dying on me so soon."

"What time do you get off?" Itachi inquired.

"Mmm... two more hours then I'm done for the day," Sakura hummed.

"May I take you out for dango then?" Itachi offered politely. "It's the least I could do."

Sakura quirked an eyebrow before beaming. "You buying?"

"Of course."

"Then yes, you may. See you in a few."

* * *

_**(1) **Shit sucking whore_

_I. Hate. Fight. Scenes._

_The whole reason this was so late in coming was because of that stupid fight scene. It's the bane of my exsistence. I wrote this story for humor and parody and for shits and giggles so I'm only going to say this once. If the fight scene does not directly involve Sakura, and even then, I'm not writing it anymore. Sorry. But there is a reason this story isn't in the 'adventure' genre._

_So. There's your fight scene. Gave me such a massive writer's block for this and probably just about ruined my weekend trying to write it. I don't care it's short. It's cannon from where it ends. I liked the Pein/Naruto fight in the anime._

_/Shot._

_Phew. Got that off my chest. _

_Well. There you go everyone. That's how Kurama and Sakura meet, and there's the top three pairing one shots. I can't really imagine Sakura and Sasuke having a romantic moment. Sakura loves mocking him too much and I think Sasuke does too. Gaara and Sakura are adorable together and I think those two have a very nice go-with-the-flow relationship. Itachi and Sakura also seem to have a more relaxed relationship, with Itachi playing the perfect gentleman._

_The omakes were rather fun to write. A is so boss, their rivalry will be completely one-sided it's not even funny. Oh... wait... yes it is._

_That last omake was just little bunnies that made it's way onto paper... evil little bunnies._

_**Two important things.**_

_**First bit of important thing(s): One... I was wondering if any of you were betas or knew any betas.** After Sakura, I mentioned I was going to write two (actually more like four now... but two first) more self inserts and I want betas for them._

_They will both be very different from each other and one of them will have a more drastic feel in comparison to the other one and Sakura._

_I'd like a beta who can help me with Nao, a reincarnation self-insert with a more somber and dramatic mood and tone than Sakura. Think of Dreaming of Sunshine or Only Morons or something along those lines type. No Oc/ anyone in this story. So, no romance. There will also be more action / fight scenes. Not much, as they aren't my cup of tea, but enough._

_Other beta for a more humorous and fluffy story, Mia. This one won't be anywhere near as long as Nao and will have a more... Sakura feel to it. I've already decided on a pairing for this one but I'm not too good with romance so I'll definitely need some input there._

_If you'd like to consider beta-ing either one of these stories, it would be a huge help. Please **PM **me if you're interested and I'll hopefully have an answer for you by the time the next Sakura chapter is out._

_I've already written the first two chapters of both stories so..._

_**Second bit of important thing(s): **I'm having a bit of writer's block on one thing... Because this story doesn't have a beta so I can't really ask for outside input... I'm going to ask you guys and see what you think._

_Should Tobi(to) be saved? Or should he die?_

_Be completely honest with me, as I haven't really changed anything in this story's Tobi... so consider him Cannon!Tobi. Should Cannon!Tobi die or have Therapy-Jutsu used on him?_

_Reasons for your answer would be most appreciated._

_**Okay... that's all I wanted to say.**_

_**Answer: **Totally take Rin's place and marry Obito. He doesn't have a choice in the matter._

_Bitch-slap the hell outta Sakura. DAMN IT GIRL. DO SOMETHING USEFUL AND DON'T ADD MORE USELESS DRAMA. I love you, really I do, else I would have used Hinata for this story but DAMN IT. And Sasuke... SASUKE. WHY NO YOU HAVE COMMON SENSE?_

_Hug the shit outta Naruto. He just needs hugs._

_**Question: **... I'm going to make this my aforementioned question. Should Cannon!Tobi die or have Therapy-Jutsu used on him?_

_**See you Thursday/Friday**_

_Reviews are **love**._


	52. The Hunt Begins!

_"Thanks wind, you totally raped my hair."_

_-Anonymous_

_**Disclaimer: **Still don't own Naruto. Damn it._

_**Warning: **Language and um... Do I even need a spoiler warning anymore?_

* * *

Dear Gaara,

Are you anxious about the war?

I am.

Nervous,

Sakura

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

"Thanks for coming here, Duck-Ass," I said with an easy smile to said Duck-Ass. Sasuke merely raised a single, thin eyebrow at me. Itachi sat next to him. The three of us were sitting quite a ways from camp the day after the major ass meeting.

"Why did you call me here?" Sasuke asked.

"Well," I began carefully, "I want to talk to you about the war and whatnot. More importantly I want you to understand... two people from your clan. I want Naruto to be able to use his Therapy-Jutsu, even if they end up dying. I want them to at least die with a purpose and a smile. And I think... I think you can help him in that regard. In some manner, at least. Because... if they do live... I don't want you pursuing your vengeance against them."

"Why?" Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"You got your revenge," I pointed out. "It was Danzo who ordered the massacre. In my opinion, you have no more need for revenge than that. I guess you can always go after the last remaining Elder, I won't stop you in that regard. But really, the only reason I supported killing the Unholy Alliance was because they were... they were not good people. Danzo was nothing more than a greedy man. I'm sure he believed he was a good person in doing the right thing, but there are _so_ many other ways to have dealt with the Uchihas. The fact that he went straight for massacre and even abused their corpses as well as Hashirama's..."

"So what about these two... that you do not want me to take vengeance on?" Sasuke inquired, his eyes still narrowed.

"One of them is just... deluded by grief and driven to the point of near insanity. I think... I think that he's in a similiar way as Gaara was. Not in circumstances but in that... that he's just in need of a little... _light_. He lost his originally and it broke him. I'd like to imagine he could be fixed. The other one... just didn't live a very good life and was placed with such a heavy burden by his younger brother and his Clan... He lost a lot and it changed him. Hashirama believed, still believed I would imagine, he could be brought back. I think Naruto can do that," I explained.

"Who are they?"

"Well, you would know them as Uchiha Obito and Uchiha Madara."

Sasuke closed his eyes. "There's more you aren't telling me."

"And that I have no intentions of telling you," I admitted. "There are some things that you just don't need to know."

Itachi placed his hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Think about it, little brother."

"I will," Sasuke finally said. "I will think on it and nothing more. The fact that you're asking me to give up revenge and bringing those two in it, makes me think they're somehow connected to the massacre. You won't tell me and I can understand that to some extent. I know I can be a bit... one-track when it comes to revenge."

I snorted at that and even Itachi looked amused.

"... You have yet to let me down," Sasuke finished. "You saved me from making the worse mistake of my life. I'll trust your judgement on this."

"Thank you," I sighed with relief, hugging him.

Sasuke patted my back. "Hn."

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

"There's just two more people I have to talk to," I said to Sasori as he floated beside me. Sasori gave me a small frown. "Then all that's left is the actual… war…"

"What do you plan on doing?" Sasori inquired.

I was quiet for a moment, looking away. "I've waited over three years for this. You know I love you all, right?"

"I am aware of your feelings, yes."

I nodded, falling silent again. "I have every intentions of stopping the ressurections after Madara pops up. I know Sasuke and Naruto, along with Killer Bee and their demons can defeat him. I know it. To do that, I'm going to confront Kabuto."

"How are you going to make him stop?" Sasori asked, his gaze questioning.

I gave a small shrug. "I know a small genjutsu that's similar to shadow possession, in that he mimicks what I do for about one minute. But I'll have to completely deplete his chakra reserves—or at least enough there's no way he could do anything about it—and physically exhaust him as well. So I'll just have to beat him."

Sasori frowned again. "And how do you plan on doing that?"

"I don't know. Wing it?"

"You've waited three years for this and you still don't know?"

I gave something akin to a frustrated grunt. "I don't… it's just a _really_ shitty match up. I'm a poison mistress—and he's immune to most, if not all, poisons. I'm not a pro at combat like Naruto and Sasuke—or any of you guys are—I'm just… me. Every scenario and plan I try to formulate nearly always ends up with me dying one way or another."

"Kabuto," Sasori began slowly, "betrayed me. Something of which I will not tolerate. I am… very anxious to defeat him."

I faltered in my steps, turning to Sasori with wide eyes. "Are you…?"

Sasori returned my gaze levelly. "I am merely saying that I do not like missing out on the chance of my own vengeance."

"But… I mean… really? Really, really?"

Sasori's eyes narrowed. "I do not care to repeat myself, brat."

A grin lit up my entire face. "Oh man… oh man, oh man! This is going to be _so_ awesome!"

"Yes, well…"

"What's going to be fucking awesome?" Hidan asked, floating over to us.

"Sasori's going to tag team with me to kick Kabuto's ass!" I cheered.

"The fuck? What the hell am I supposed to do then?" Hidan demanded. "Your stupid shit-for-brain Kages still can't fucking decide where to put us."

"I don't know," I admitted.

"Hidan, you moron. Don't run off when Leader-sama is talking to us," Kakuzu snarled, floating in with the rest of the Akatsuki, and Naruto after them.

"You fucking said the stupid meeting was over!" Hidan growled.

"There is another meeting that's about to take place in ten minutes," Nagato drawled.

"I don't care," Hidan snapped. "That shits boring! Why can't I plan to kick this Kabuto guy's ass with doll-boy and insane-bitch?"

"You're what?" Konan asked incredulously, turning to face us.

"I hate Kabuto and Sasori wants revenge," I explained. "Do you guys know what you're going to be doing on the battlefield yet?"

"The Kages have yet to make up their mind. They seem to be leaning towards saving us for the final battle with Tobi and Madara."

"They shouldn't worry about Madara," I said with a frown. "I told them the best people to handle him were Sasuke and Naruto and Killer Bee."

"Some of them are still a little doubtful on that," Nagato explained.

"Well that's stupid," I decided.

"Can you blame them, yeah?" Deidara asked.

"No," I admitted. "But it's still stupid."

"Not arguing with that," Kisame chuckled.

"Well if they can't fucking make up their mind and if they're actually fucking thinking saving _me_ for last, why can't I just go with bitch and dolly and take this Kabuto fucker out? Then we'll all be finished and can make it back in time for the retard and old guy," Hidan snorted.

Kakuzu stared at Hidan in disbelief. "Did… did you just suggest something _logical?_"

"Holy shit, it's the end of the world, un," Deidara laughed.

"If all of us went then it certainly wouldn't be a very long battle," Konan mused. "We'd all have plenty of time to make it back and help deal with Tobi and Madara."

"My Tsukuyomi would be very useful in forcing him to cancel the resurrections," Itachi said.

"And you know where he's stationed at, right, Sakura-chan?" Kisame asked with his usual grin.

"Of course, Kisame-sama," I said. "So wait… are you guys _actually_ saying what I think you're saying?"

"Canceling the resurrection jutsu will be a main priority in the war anyway," Nagato dismissed my growing excitement. "This will merely speed up the process."

I tried very hard not to squeal with joy. I settled for grinning very wide, and probably very stupidly.

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

"Hi Kakashi-sensei," I chirped. "Can I have a word with you?"

Kakashi looked up from his conversation with Yamato. His eye crinkled into his famous eye-smile. "Of course."

After leading Kakashi a little ways from the group, I plopped down in the grass. He sat down across from me. "I thought it might be best to, you know, give you a heads up about… Tobi."

"What about Tobi?" Kakashi asked.

"Well… it's really about his Sharingan and his… identity…"

"What do you mean?"

"This… this might be a little hard to hear but…"

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

"Hey son of mine," I greeted, plopping down on his bed. Naruto yawned tiredly and looked up at me.

"I need to talk to you about something," I explained at his questioning gaze.

"Oh… okay?"

I smiled. "You know about Tobi and Madara. I want to tell you there story... you know so maybe you can help them and shit."

Naruto frowned at this but straightened up. "You're serious about saving them?"

"If possible," I admitted. "They aren't _bad_... They're just... um... insane?"

Naruto snorted. "I'll see what I can do. What's their story?"

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

"Sakura."

I whirled around, my eyes widening at seeing Gaara stand before me. He held out a single potted plant. I gaped at seeing the plants inside... gloriosa lilies.

"You said they were your favorite," Gaara said.

I felt my cheeks warm. "Mm-hmm. They're... for me?"

Gaara nodded, holding them out for me. I took them carefully, smiling brightly. "Thanks, Gaara-kun!"

Surprisingly a light-just _barely_ visible-red hue colored his cheeks. "Mn. Temari suggested them."

"Mm-hmm."

"Sakura."

I turned my head, finding Sasuke heading towards me.

"Sakura," Sasuke repeated, not even glancing at Gaara, "I need you. Come on."

I sighed. "Don't I get a break? I _just_ got out of a meeting with the Akatsuki..."

"No," Sasuke deadpanned. "Now let's go."

"Alright... alright..."

I smiled brightly at Gaara before Sasuke forcibly dragged me away.

"Ja ne, Gaara-kun!"

"Ja ne, Sakura," Gaara replied.

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

I shifted anxiously in between Sasori and Deidara. The Akatsuki plus the Kage, plus the intelligence squad, _plus_ Duck-Ass and Kakashi and whatnot—and myself—were gathered in that damn familiar room. The same room the Kage were in at the beginning of the war with everyone already starting up in positions. The only difference being the war hadn't started yet. The shinobi forces were still outside, waiting for the Kages and squad leaders to present themselves.

I wouldn't be joining them, neither would the Akatsuki. Our mission was to track down Kabuto, cancel the resurrection jutsu and kill Kabuto. After that we would return, assist in dealing with Madara, Tobi and if necessary, the Jubi.

Absently I wondered why Kabuto hadn't come to our side and offered the resurrection jutsu in exchange for Sasuke's body. Then I immediately reasoned he wouldn't bother because without the resurrection jutsu, Tobi would be finished with relative ease and there was no way in hell we would hand over Sasuke so easily. No, no, if Kabuto wanted Sasuke's body he would have to join our opposing force, win and then take it by any means necessary.

The Akatsuki and I would be moving out before Gaara even gave his famous speech. I might know where Kabuto originally was, but I wouldn't put it past him to have changed bases—frequently.

"Sakura," Tsunade said sharply, pulling my attention forward and towards her. "It's time."

I gave a firm nod, my hands flying up into seals. At the end, I bit my palm and slammed my hand to the floor.

A wave of chakra left me, having me wince at the sharp fatigue I felt. A cloud of smoke filled the room and when it cleared, I could feel seven new chakras behind me.

I straightened back up, glancing around at the very much solid, very much prison-free Akatsuki members behind me.

"Nagato," A growled (or said... seriously, it was _so_ hard to tell between the two when it came to the Raikage), "you will be in charge of this mission and squad. Is that understood?"

"Crystal," Nagato drawled.

"Good. Then your mission begins now."

Nagato merely blinked at him. But before he could do a thing, I raised up my hand. "Er… actually there's something I'd like to do before we go. Permission, Nagato-taichou?"

"Granted," Nagato said with a raised eyebrow.

I shrugged. "I'm on Team 7, our missions have a way of always going horrendously out of control so odds are this mission won't be as easy as he wanted it to be. I'd like to go ahead and pretend that more than likely I won't be returning alive."

"Sakura," Tsunade admonished.

I shrugged again. "Better be safe than sorry."

I turned on my heel and marched straight towards a certain someone in the room.

I grabbed his front shirt and pulled him close to me before kissing him.

I then released him, gave a firm nod at his stunned expression and turned back to Nagato. "Alright. I'm good. Let's go kill a lapdog."

"Then let's go," Nagato said, amusement in his—along with the rest of the Akatsuki and Kages—eyes.

And without another word, we headed out.

As far as we were concerned, the war had begun.

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

Dear Sakura,

Of course. War is never a good thing. But I am content in knowing I will be fighting alongside Naruto and you.

Yours,

Gaara

* * *

_Yeah. I purposely made it so you wouldn't see who she had kissed. I'm thinking about doing a triple epilogue, three different epilogues for the three pairings that I support in this story. _

_Overwhelming ton of you wanted Therapy-Jutsu used and for him to live. Less than four in all wanted him to just die... which now that I think about it doesn't really fit with the swing of the story. This is a _humor _and _parody _story written for shits and giggles. Pretty sure if there was a _crack _genre, it would be under there. But hey... I read a similiar story to mine only with the Akatsuki as cats in our world and the author made **everyone** die at the end. _

_I might do that... just for lolz..._

_I kid._

_Kind of. Who knows how it could go with me? It would certainly be the ultimate troll. A triple epilogue for the big 'what if they all lived'?_

_Anyway... this chapter was too short and at the suggestion one of my reviewers, I did a **special** omake._

_This is an omake of _Rock Lee and His Ninja Pals  _in which I chose a random episode that had Sakura in it, and rewrote it to fit _my_ Sakura._

_If you haven't seen any of the episodes, I suggest you check them out. Especially episodes... 2 (and for NaruHina fans 9), 11, 19, 38 (**definitely **38 if you're an Akatsuki fan), first episode in episode 39, 46 and the last episode in episode 47. _

_Or just wikipedia the episodes list and see what looks good. _

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

_In Konoha there was a shinobi by the name of Rock Lee. He was one of the few shinobi that did not use any ninjutsu, or genjutsu. Instead he specialized strictly in taijutsu. _

"Yosh!" Lee exclaimed, his eyes lit up with a fiery passion. "Today's the day! Today's the day I finally ask Sakura-chan out!"

_Haruno Sakura, or even known as Momma or Lilly-chan, was Rock Lee's first love. _

"Lee," Tenten placated, "you shouldn't go around saying stuff like that. At least not so loudly."

"Tenten's right," Neji muttered. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Time matters not when concerns of the heart are at stake!"

Tenten and Neji shared a sweat drop, exchanging glances.

"What makes you think this time will be any different?" Tenten asked.

Lee froze, his eyes wide. "… I… I…"

"She's rejected you, what? Twenty times in this past week alone?" Tenten continued on, completely oblivious to the growing depression and horror on Lee's face.

Neji shook his head.

"I-I will just try harder! I _will _succeed!" Lee finally shouted out at the sky, rushing off.

"Lee-_ee!_ Wait!" Tenten groaned, sighing, before following after them.

"Why can't I ever have normal teammates?" Neji muttered.

* * *

_Meanwhile, the dynamic hero's love, Haruno Sakura, was minding her own business in a deep conversation with two of her closest friends, Uchiha Itachi and Akasuna no Sasori._

"I don't know," Sakura admitted. "I mean it's great and all having Jiraiya-sensei as my Shisho but at times it _can _get a little trying."

"Just a little?" Sasori asked dryly.

"What do you mean?" Itachi inquired politely.

"Well, _Icha Icha_ is a fantastic series and Shisho is really funny guy but… sometimes when I want to train, I can't ever seem to get any training, you know?"

"Not really. No one would bother trying to be the student of such a lecherous old man," Sasori muttered.

Sakura continued to ignore him, focusing her attention on Itachi who frowned thoughtfully.

"I can understand where you are coming from but I cannot say I have shared that experience," Itachi finally said. "I am sorry you are so frustrated by it."

"Damn right I'm frustrated by it," Sakura grumbled.

"That's not saying much coming from the girl who—"

Sakura whirled around to Sasori, glowering. "Damn it! We get it! You play the dry, sarcastic, pessimistic son of a bitch who always gets the last word in. Do it again in front of me and I'll set termites on your damn collection!"

Sasori appeared mildly disturbed by her threat, but he refused to step out of character. No matter the cost. He was that determined. "I thought you were supposed to be the nonchalant, laid-back character, not the raging, PMS-ing bitch."

Sakura gave a strangled cry of fury as she launched herself at Sasori, tackling him to the ground before ruffling up his hair.

"Not the hair!" Sasori exclaimed, trying and failing to push her off him. "I had it at _just_ the right amount of fluffy-ness."

Sakura smiled, satisfied, getting back off him after messing up his hair enough to please her. Sasori glowered at her and Itachi just sighed at the two. Itachi looked up at the sky. "Am I doomed to be the only sane person in Konoha?"

Just at that moment, Lee jumped down from his spot on a roof, his face bright red. "S-Sakura-san! How about going on a date with me?!"

He finished his question by blowing a kiss towards her, a red heart popping out and making a beeline towards said girl.

"Oh fuck," Sakura muttered, yanking Itachi in front of her to use as a shield. It landed with a sickening splat.

Itachi twitched.

Sakura peered out from behind Itachi who was twitching violently while Sasori snickered at the Uchiha.

"Sorry Lee-san," Sakura apologized. "But… um… I only date people from my harem."

"Who's in your harem?" Lee asked, his brow furrowed.

"The Akatsuki, Gaara-kun, Kakashi, Bee-sama, Yagura-kun—may he rest in peace—technically A-sama because there's no way in hell would my Epic Rival not automatically constitute an invitation into my exclusive Harem, Darui and Omoi," Sakura answered promptly. "Oh and technically Madara but it never really became official because he was pretty adamant about _not_ being it—though I don't know why—and technically Naruto because I promised Hinata-chan I would always share my harem with her."

"I-I can't be part of it?" Lee asked.

"Sorry, no," Sakura apologized. "You're not really the type."

Lee froze, a blue haze falling over him as anime-tears poured out from his eyes.

Sakura shrugged, used to this by now before hooking one arm through Itachi's, and the other arm through Sasori's. "Come my beautiful people. Let's go get dangos!"

Itachi stared at her. "You're buying. I'm not a human shield for free."

"Fair enough."

* * *

"Why?" Lee sniffled, a single spotlight shining down on him as he leaned his oddly beaten and battered body against a long wooden stick. "Sakura-chan turned me down again…"

"Get a grip," Tenten sighed. "She just said no to a date and being in that weird little harem of hers. That's no reason to be so beat up about it."

"I-I'm not beat up about it," Lee said as he slowly fell over. "My heart is just unprotected, and she landed a critical hit…"

"And you're saying it was fatal," Neji concluded.

Tenten's face took on a slightly irritated, slightly exasperated look to it as she said, "If you ask me, this just proves that guys don't get how women think. Who in their right mind would be enamored by someone jumping in front of them and blowing a kiss?"

"Pretty sure Sakura would just be on cloud nine if one of her idols did that," Neji muttered under his breath.

"Oh?! Then what should I do to make her swoon?!" Lee demanded, lurching back up.

"Well, think of the majority of guys in her… harem," Neji reasoned. "Most of them are categorized as 'cool.' Even 'badass.'"

"Cool… and badass?" Lee parroted. Suddenly a light bulb went off in his head and he hurried off to get changed, rushing back in a brand new outfit… an outfit that looked sickeningly like Dracula.

Tenten shook her head. "Nice try, but there's a reason she doesn't allow Kankuro in her harem despite him being Gaara's brother. Wipe that white make up off your face, Lee."

"So what am I supposed to do then?" Lee demanded.

"It's not that simple to explain," Tenten sighed. "But I mean, it's not like Sakura doesn't hide what she looks for. Neji had the right idea by doing a comparison between all of them. While it's true that the majority of them are appealing to the eye, if that was just the case she would have brought in Sasuke-san or Neji—don't look at me like that, Neji, it's true—or the majority of the Rookie 9. And look at A, he's not attractive in the least yet she counts him in… not to mention her idolization for Kisame-san and Kakuzu-san."

"That's true," Neji conceded. "But trying to find a common denominator between all of them is going to be too difficult for us."

"What do you mean?" Lee tilted his head curiously.

"She's insane," Neji said bluntly. "For all we know she chooses them at random. We don't know her enough to really say for certain what she's thinking. And besides, even if they are in her harem, that doesn't mean she likes them in… that manner. If that were the case then wouldn't she be dating all of them? Or at least gone on a date with all of them once?"

"True enough," Tenten allowed. "Trying to figure out what she looks for in dating material is going to be tricky. I doubt the normal stuff would apply to her."

Lee grinned. "As expected of my lotus blossom! Unique all the way!"

"Too unique, perhaps," Neji grumbled.

"Or maybe she _is_ normal enough in that the regular things would work on her?" Tenten reasoned. "I don't see any reason not to try. Even if she is a little odd, she's still just a teenaged girl. She can't be _that_ different than me in the romance regard."

"And what do _you_ look for in a guy, Tenten?" Lee whirled around, his eyes wide as he whipped out a notepad and pen.

"Eto… well, I guess someone naturally kind, someone to keep me happy with presents, to be honest and open about his feelings and maybe a little forceful every now and then…"

Lee nodded his head fiercely. "That's what a real cool guy is like then, right?"

"Uh… I guess so, yeah…" Tenten sweatdropped.

Lee's eyes took on a fiery blaze. "Understood! I'll use your teachings to become the coolest cool guy out there! And then I'll launch another attack on Sakura!"

"Think he'll be okay?" Tenten muttered, staring off at the growing distant Lee.

"Probably not," Neji replied.

* * *

Sakura sneezed, a sudden chill going down her spine.

"You alright?" Kisame grinned, noticing her chill.

"I have a horrible feeling," Sakura sighed, curling into a tight ball next to him. "I don't want to leave the house."

"Too bad. You know how Leader-sama gets when he doesn't have his grilled fish and stew."

Sakura gave a groan. "I know… I know… damn… alright… Hold the movie guys while I go grab the food."

"Don't take too long bitch," Hidan called out from the kitchen. "And pick up some more ribs!"

Sakura sniffed. "I feel the love."

* * *

With a sack full of groceries, Sakura continued on her way back home. Passing down a seemingly deserted street she gave a glance towards the park bench. "Mmm… I wonder if they would get too mad at me if I took a nap?"

"Hang on, Sakura."

Sakura blinked in surprise as Lee jumped out from behind the bushes, appearing before her and the bench.

"Lee-san?" Sakura blinked.

_First part of being a cool guy: Natural kindness! _Lee thought. He pulled out a handkerchief. "This bench if filthy. Let me clean it up for you."

Without waiting for her to reply, he turned around and started rubbing the dirty bench in circular motions but as he rubbed, he noticed something.

_If I did this a little harder it'd be great arm training_, Lee thought. With that in mind he began to rub furiously at the bench at such a dizzying speed.

Sakura blinked and sweatdropped at his antics.

When he was finished, he bowed before taking his leave.

Sakura blinked again. _Good Kami, what the hell is he up to now?_

Sakura shook her head, choosing to sit on the bench and set her groceries down. She peered into the bags, double checking she bought everything she needed.

Lee appeared back before her, a light blush across his cheeks.

_Second part of being a cool guy: keep her happy with presents!_

"Sakura-san, these are for you," Lee exclaimed, brandishing a beautiful bouquet of roses.

Sakura smiled upon seeing them, mildly surprised. Red roses were her second favorite flower.

It was then that a small swarm of bees popped out of the roses and her smile slipped, becoming replaced with something akin to small horror.

"I-like-the-flowers-but-the-bees-I-could-do-without," Sakura managed between evasively dodging the angry bees.

"Not to worry. I'll pound them all with pinpoint precision punches!" Lee attempted to assure the pinkette before unleashing a fury of punches…

That not once landed to connect to the bees, choosing to connect with Sakura's face.

By the time he realized his mistakes, the bees had left of his own accord and Sakura's cheeks were outrageously swollen. Reflexive tears pricked at her eyes and she rubbed her cheeks. "The fuck did I ever do to you? If you didn't like me, just say so!"

Anime tears poured out of Lee's eyes as he visibly winced at her words.

"I'm sorry! I wasn't trying to hit you, Sakura-san," Lee tried to explain.

Sakura continued to glower at him.

_That was a complete disaster. Time to move onto the next part,_ Lee thought desperately. _Third part of being a cool guy: Be open and honest about your feelings._

"A-Actually Sakura-san, I need to talk to you."

Sakura rubbed her now back to normal cheeks, her hands flickering green once again before dying back down. She raised an eyebrow at Lee's flustered appearance.

"This is hard to put into words, but…"

At the end of his sentence, one of the stray bees landed on his hand and stung him (all the while Sakura remained oblivious to it).

Reflexively, he jerked his hand out—thus slapping Sakura—and he shrieked at the bee (though of course it looked like he was only shrieking at Sakura), "_You nasty beast!_"

"Nasty beast?" Sakura echoed.

Lee froze.

Sakura stood up from her bench, grabbing her groceries.

"Go to hell," Sakura told him, turning on her heel and heading home.

Lee fell to the floor in a dramatic heap, twitching as he cried his anime tears.

_This is horrible… I'll have to resort to my last chance at being a cool guy. Being a little forceful at times… I'll have to force a kiss on her to steal her heart!_

At this, the narrator interjected, _Don't try this at home, kids._

"I'm home," Sakura echoed, dropping off the groceries in the kitchen and rubbing her still sore cheek.

"Something wrong?" Kakuzu asked, looking up from his newspaper at the kitchen table.

"Lee went ballistic on me," Sakura explained.

"Brat. Get your ass in here, the T.V. is broken," Sasori called from the living room.

Sakura rolled her eyes, bidding her favorite miser a goodbye before entering the living room. She stared in horror at the T.V. "Who the _hell_ threw the remote into the T.V.?!"

Hidan and Deidara both pointed to each other at the exact same time while saying, "He did it."

Sakura looked to Sasori.

"They were the only ones in the room at the time," Sasori said dryly.

Sakura sighed. "My poor T.V. … Oh well. Guess I'll just have to buy the flat screen now."

Hidan perked up at this. "Seriously?"

"Duh. I was going to buy it this weekend but now works just as well. I'll need help carrying it though so who wants to be awesome and help me pick out a flat screen?"

Both Hidan and Deidara raised their hands while Sasori, Itachi and Kisame raised theirs as well.

"Hidan and Deidara can't go because clearly one of them broke the T.V. and I don't want them anywhere near the flat screen without supervision for quite some time. Everyone else is welcome to tag along," Sakura decided.

"Fuck you transy, this is all your fault!"

"Damn it Hidan, you liar, yeah!"

Sakura only smiled in amusement at their antics.

* * *

On their way to the store, the quartet ran into none other than Lee.

"Sakura-san!" Lee exclaimed, his lips puckered before he launched himself at her.

Sakura, quickly realizing where this was going, grabbed hold of Itachi and pulled him in front of her.

There was a resounding _smack_ as the two collided before Lee quickly lurched back, gagging and spitting.

Itachi was twitching violently.

Kisame laughed while Sasori snickered quietly and Sakura only looked a cross between sympathy, horror, and amusement.

Itachi marched up to Lee, grabbing him by the collar as his Sharingan whirled to life.

"Itachi, you can't put Lee in a genjutsu—his chakra network his crippled," Sakura pointed out.

"Watch. Me," Itachi hissed. "_Mangekyō Sharingan, you perverted little freak._"

And of course Itachi succeeded in the impossible because clearly Itachi was the Chuck Norris of the Narutoverse. Lee slumped over, unconscious before Itachi whirled around to Sakura, a single eyebrow twitching.

Sakura gave him a small smile before ducking behind Kisame.

"I'll buy you as much dango as you want for a week?" Sakura offered.

Itachi paused, considering this.

"Two weeks," Itachi decided. "You will also do my share of the dishes and laundry for a month. You will also be paying for my therapist."

"Deal…"

Itachi nodded. "Then let us carry on to our new flat screen."

Sakura sighed while Kisame patted her on the head.

"There, there kid. We both know he's not going to a therapist. It's against Uchiha policy," Kisame consoled.

"He'll go," Sakura mumbled. "He'll just sit there and read a book or something though."

Kisame nodded his head thoughtfully after a moment. "Yeah. That's probably true. If it makes you feel any better you're still my favorite."

Sakura brightened considerably at this.

* * *

_Meanwhile, back with Lee…_

Tenten patted the twitching Lee on the head while Neji just sighed and shook his head.

"Idiot," Neji sighed.

* * *

"Ne, Sakura?" Tenten asked.

"Mm?" Sakura inquired, looking up from her current piggy-back ride on Tobi towards Tenten.

"What exactly _do_ you look for in a guy?"

Sakura blinked. "Huh? Oh, not much. Just as long as they love me and make me happy I don't really care about anything else."

"Eh? Really?"

"Yep, now if you don't mind, Tobi-sama and I have every intentions of winning the piggy-back race!"

"The… what?"

"The Akatsuki pissed off Leader-sama yesterday and he's making us do this piggy-back race—the first one to the top of the Hokage monument from Sakura's house wins. So far, Sakura-chan and I are in the lead," Tobi explained.

"Not for long, yeah!" Deidara shouted.

"Less talking, slave," Sasori muttered from his position. "More running."

Deidara's eyebrow twitched.

Tenten sweatdropped. _And I thought my life with Lee was crazy…_

* * *

_ And viola. _

_Once again I'd like to take the time to thank everyone who offered to be Betas, but I have already decided on my Nao Beta-Kalafina94. Due to some errors in communication I wasn't able to determine my Mia Beta yet though, so I suppose if you're still wanting to Beta Mia and just didn't get a chance to PM me, please do! I'll choose my Mia Beta by Sunday so PM before then._

_This Omake was crack. FanFiction needs to add Fluff and Crack as genres. _

**_Answer: _**_You'll see my answer when it gets to that time._

**_Question: _**_Favorite spin-off for any anime/manga/T.V/book?_

_You know. Not including the epilogues, two more chapters until this story is done._

_Huh._

_Reviews are **love**._


	53. The Akatsuki Are So OP

_"Me: *sneeze* Class: *Silence* Popular person: *sneeze* Class: GOD BLESS YOU, LORD JESUS, LET GOD PROTECT YOU FROM THAT SNEEZE. AMEN."_

_-Anonymous_

_**Disclaimer: **Sakura is my bitch now. As is this plot. Everything is Kishimoto's bitch._

_**Warning: **Violence, Hidan and... I don't know. I shouldn't need to put up a Spoiler Warning but... yeah. Spoilers._

_POV switches... A lot._

_Why? _

_Because I wanted it to._

* * *

Dear Gaara,

I've been thinking… when all of this is said and done, I'd like to join the ANBU. Mostly because I just want be Naruto's right hand man (or woman) when he becomes Hokage. I have a feeling I'm going to have to compete for that spot with Sasuke though.

Damn him.

So jealous,

Sakura

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

"This is where he was supposed to be," I said with a frown, glancing around.

Nagato glanced around the clearing, his eyes narrowed. Kakuzu was kneeling at the ground, his fingers brushing against it. When he stood up, his eyes were narrowed as well. "Someone was here and they hadn't left too long ago."

"Does their track vanish or can you follow it?" I asked.

"I can follow it," Kakuzu said.

"Then it was Kabuto," Itachi murmured. "Tobi would have used his eye to leave."

I nodded in affirmation.

Just then, two coffins rose up from the ground, drawing our attention. My eyebrows rose up when the coffin lids fell.

Inside were two people I didn't know.

"The fuck?" Hidan asked. "Who the hell are they?"

"The Second Raikage and… Second Kazekage," Kakuzu murmured. "Were they originally resurrected, Sakura?"

"Nope," I said with a shake of my head. "I don't even know their names."

"The Second Raikage is Z, and the Second Kazekage is Sashi," Itachi said.

"Do you know everything?" I asked him incredulously.

"Hn."

"That means yes, but he's trying to sound modest," Kisame translated for me. I gave him a grin.

The two Kages stepped out from their coffins, not even blinking.

Ah, guess that meant they were in Kabuto's complete control.

"Oi, oi, Kakuzu—can we fucking take 'em? I'm bored already! I want to fight!"

"That's up to Leader-sama," Kakuzu growled at Hidan.

"Do not allow this fight to last long," Nagato simply said.

"Woo-hoo!" Hidan chered.

"Oh, Hidan. Don't bother trying to take their blood—they don't have any. So you guys are just better off kicking their ass enough so that way Itachi and Sasori can seal 'em," I advised.

"We know," Kakuzu said.

"Usual?" Hidan asked with an exciting grin.

"Always," Kakuzu said with a feral smile.

"At times I wonder if those two are more bloodlusty than me," Kisame mused.

"Nah," I dismissed then paused. "Well, maybe…"

* * *

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* * *

**(Third Person POV - Hidan)**

Hidan gave a chortle, gripping and swinging his newly sharpened scythe with ease. Behind him, he could hear the snapping of Kakuzu's stitches as the miser ripped his heart-puppets from his body once again. Hidan's grin grew as he saw the two Kages only staring at them with blank expressions.

The pink-bitch informed the Akatsuki and Kages that the resurrected shinobi were on autopilot unless directly controlled by Kabuto. They weren't to attack unless they were attacked first.

"Ready, moron?" Kakuzu's deep voice rumbled from behind the Jashinist.

"Fuck yeah!" Hidan howled, already rushing towards the first of the Kage, Z.

He swung his scythe was ease towards Z, only to have the Kage disappear in a blur of lightning. Hidan followed his eyes as he saw Z thrown up into the air and attempt to jump over Hidan. Following the movement with his scythe, Hidan swung upwards, catching the little fucker on his foot.

But the asshole wasn't even deterred and continued, forcing Hidan to slice off his foot. Hidan watched with mild annoyance as Z finished his roll over Hidan, and his foot reformed.

"Jashin won't be too pleased with me," Hidan growled. "Considering I can't even sacrifice a heretic like you. But kicking your ass hard enough should be enough to appease my lord until I can give him a proper sacrifice."

Z didn't even blink, his hands moving together in a rapid ray of seals.

Through the corner of Hidan's eye he could see Kakuzu's wind heart flying up above him, along with his fireheart directly below and behind Hidan.

Kakuzu was ready for the usual then.

Just as Z finished his handseals, Hidan charged forward, laughing with glee at the thought of winning against a Kage. Sure it might not have been as bloody as he liked, and the Kage wasn't even a worthy sacrifice but the battle would still be _fun_.

Z slammed his hands into the ground. "Lightning Style: Hands of Light!"

Hidan barely had time to blink before two insanely large and _bright_ hands burst out of the ground before him and grabbed hold of him. Electricity, hot, sweet, numbing and chilling all at once ran through him and Hidan knew that had it touched anyone else, they would have died.

Hidan shook and his eyes rolled back as the hands released him, he slumped to the ground, mind reeling from the shock.

_Damn that felt… wonderful_, Hidan thought giddily. _I knew this would be a fun battle!_

With another gleeful shout, Hidan shot forward before the Kage had time to react and swung his scythe. Z ducked underneath it and Hidan kicked his leg up. Z twisted his body backwards to avoid the hit and Hidan swung his scythe once again towards Z. The tip of the scythe caught hold of Z's arm but this time Hidan didn't yank hard enough to pull the Kage's arm off.

Hidan kept his hold on the Kage a moment longer just as Kakuzu's two masks finished converging and lauched an insanely powerful combination of fire and wind.

Hidan laughed happily as the attack reached both him and the Kage.

When the attack subsided and the Kage began to reform, Hidan chuckled. He knew he should probably wrap things up and just subdue him long enough for the pretty boys to seal him but it just has been _so long_ since he able to fight since the pink bitch kidnapped him.

So what if the little snake fucker got a few more minutes of a head start? They'd catch him anyway.

"Hidan," Pein said, drawing said Jashinist's attention. "Do not toy around anymore. We need to hurry after Kabuto."

"What the fuck ever," Hidan said with an eyeroll but complied. He supposed he'd just have to have a nice, long battle after this whole Kabuto shit was finished.

With another swing of his scythe, Hidan shifted his stance as Z finished reforming. Z's body began to glow an electric blue and before Hidan could even blink, Z had appeared right before him and slammed his foot against Hidan's chest.

Hidan flew away from him, as his breath left him. He slammed into the rocky cliff that surrouned them and continued going for a bit. His back stung something fierce and it took a moment or two before his breath returned to him.

Mother fucker.

More than a little annoyed, Hidan let out a growl and pulled himself through the hole he had created before rushing towards the damn asshole.

Z's hands flew into seals and when he was done, he charged to meet Hidan head on. His hand jerked out and grabbed Hidan, just as he said, "Lightning Style: Electromagnetic Murder."

Just like it was with the lightning hands, Hidan's body shook but this time he was far too annoyed with Z to allow him complete control. Forcing his body to move, Hidan slammed his scythe deep inside the fucker's chest, digging in. Hidan's annoyance doubled when he felt that instead of the usual, pleasant feeling of guts being jabbed into—all he was rewarded with was some empty shell.

Slicing through Z, the Kage was sliced in half. Not finished, Hidan swung his scythe into Z's head before hurling the head off his scythe towards the pretty boys.

Pretty boy Itachi caught it with ease as the doll boy's hands flew into seals. Hidan watched as the rest of Z's body floated towards the head and once complete, Itachi and Sasori sealed him.

"That Kage didn't look very strong, yeah," Deidara muttered.

"I don't think he was at full power for whatever reason," Sakura said with a frown as she eyed the sealed corpse thoughtfully. "Perhaps it wasn't because Kabuto had complete control over him—so much as Kabuto wasn't able to get enough of his DNA to _fully _ resurrect him, like he could with everyone else."

"It's possible," Itachi said quietly. "The Kage's bodies are more closely guarded than regular shinobi—and Z was an older Kage so there might not have been as much left as the others."

"What the fuck ever," Hidan snorted. "Oi, Kakuzu, you fucking done yet?"

Kakuzu snorted as he dodged one of the other's Kages kicks. "Give me a moment."

Hidan shrugged. Not like he was going anywhere anyway.

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

**(Third Person POV – Konan)**

After disposing of the reanimated corpses, Kakuzu picked up on Kabuto's trail and the group headed off. Konan leapt through the trees, beside Nagato as Nagato followed after Kakuzu who lead the trail.

_Who knew having such a devoted bounty hunter would come in handy today_, Konan mused quietly to herself.

But no sooner had she finished her musings, did Kakuzu stop—forcing the rest of the Akatsuki to stop as well. Konan's eyes scanned the forest floor, zeroing in on the coffins that rose up from the ground. A quick count caused Konan to frown.

"Damn," Sakura said a little ways behind her. "Twenty two against us? Kabuto's been a busy boy."

"We will have to eliminate them quickly," Nagato said, his eyes never leaving the floor as the coffins opened. "Itachi, stay back and prepare to seal."

"Understood, Leader-sama," Itachi said quietly.

"Sakura," Sasori drawled, drawing said girl's attention to him. Konan glanced back, away from the coffins and watched as her Akatsuki members readied themselves for battle. At Sakura's questioning gaze, Sasori continued. "Be my puppet for this battle."

"'Kay," Sakura chirped, hopping off her branch with Kisame and landing next to Sasori. Sasori's fingers twitched and Konan knew he had her attached to chakra strings.

"Akatsuki," Nagato said, his voice firm and commanding. "Attack."

Konan leapt up into the air, slips of paper rushing around her to form her paper wings just as three unknown shinobi leapt up into the air with her. From their attire, she could gather they were Suna shinobi.

"Wind Style: Crossing Winds!" the only kunoichi among the trio shouted as her arms formed together to create an x. She threw her arms down in a quick movement and a large, sharp x-shape of wind flew towards Konan. Konan flapped her wings and twisted away from the x gracefully.

Konan raised her arm slowly, her finger locking onto the kunoichi. "Dance of Shikigami."

Konan's body dispersed into paper, diving toward the kunoichi as the kunoichi fell to the floor after jumping so high in the air. The nameless girl's eyes widened as Konan quickly attached herself to her and wasted no time in completely mummifying her.

She felt more of herself latch onto the other two nameless shinobi, mummifying them as well. She kept them immobilized until Itachi finished sealing them away.

After reassembling herself, she glanced around and noted with amusement how only in the course of a minute the Akatsuki somehow managed to completely destroy this section of the forest.

Konan felt her lips twitching in amusement as she watched Hidan shriek with joy and Kakuzu snarl at him to quiet down. Kisame laughed happily as he swung his Samehada with ease, dicing and slicing through his opponents after they kept reappearing. Deidara was grinning widely as he repeatedly dropped his bombs down on them. Sakura was laughing happily as Sasori used her to perform stupendous feats of jumping and twisting in the air. Even Sasori seemed to have a ghost of a smile on his face.

Nagato landed lightly beside her, watching them as well.

"Is it strange how our Akatsuki are so happy when they're in battle?" Konan inquired.

"Perhaps," Nagato allowed. "But I couldn't really imagine them anywhere else."

"No," Konan confessed. "Somehow, I couldn't either."

_And somehow,_ _I'm okay with that, _Konan thought. _Ironic how Nagato and I have strived for peace yet our own organization are gleeful sadists._

She glanced at Itachi who was just watching the scene with mild amusement. _Well, not all of them are, actually._

"We should probably tell them to hurry up," Konan said.

"We probably should," Nagato agreed.

Neither of them did.

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

**(Third Person POV – Kisame)**

Night had fallen and the group was still on the trail of Kabuto. Though they were nearing, most certainly, and they had already fought another _thirty_ reanimated corpses, it was getting a little annoying. Kisame would have much preferred if Orochimaru's pet hadn't run in the first place.

"Do we want to set up camp, yeah?" Deidara asked as the group stopped running through the trees.

"They have plans to take place at night," Sakura piqued up from beside Kisame. Kisame grinned at his little fan girl. It was nice to be adored/worshipped over. Kisame didn't get why Itachi didn't like it. But then again, Uchiha were a bit weird. "Kabuto will most likely go along with Tobi and withdraw his forces for the night."

"Most likely?" Sasori inquired.

"As I said before, their plan was to infiltrate our side of the war and that's a bit easier when everyone has their guard down," Sakura said with a shrug.

"It would be most beneficial if we rested for a few hours," Itachi murmured softly. "Kabuto cannot leave the area or else the range would be too far to use his resurrection jutsu."

"That's true," Pein said with a tilt of his head. "Very well, we will rest a while."

At his words, the Akatsuki fell to the forest floor and systematically formed a loose circle.

"I'll keep first watch," Pein said.

"I'll keep second," Sakura volunteered.

"Third," Konan said.

"Fourth," Kakuzu muttered.

"Fifth," Kisame offered.

"Sixth, yea," Deidara said.

"Seventh," Sasori hummed.

Itachi opened his mouth to speak but Sakura sent him a glare. Itachi immediately shut his mouth and sighed. Sakura smiled. "I'll keep the final shift as well."

"Don't be ridiculous, brat," Sasori snorted. "Hidan can keep the final shift."

"Fuck. Fine," Hidan sighed, slumping against the tree he leaned against. Sakura grinned happily at him and Sasori before moving over to sit by Kisame.

"Hi Kisame-sama," she said with her usual grin.

"Sakura-chan," Kisame said with his own usual grin.

"Can I join you?" She asked.

"I don't see why not," Kisame said. "But why didn't you allow Itachi to join in?"

"He's still repairing," Sakura said with a roll of her eyes as she plopped down next to him. "He's sick and Tsunade-sama figured out the cure but it's a _long_ process. He won't be a hundred-percet until _five years_ of her therapy are finished."

Kisame blinked in surprise. He hadn't been expecting that. "He looks perfectly fine to me."

"He's about a sixth of what he should be now," Sakura said nonchalantly. Kisame blinked in again and glanced at Itachi who was moving towards them.

_If Itachi's that weak _now_, how strong will be later?_ Kisame wondered.

"I see," was all Kisame said.

Sakura beamed at him. "You're so cool!"

Kisame blinked again at the random compliment but shrugged it off. If she wanted to dote and worship him—let her.

Kisame didn't mind one bit.

* * *

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* * *

**(Third Person POV – Deidara)**

It was midmorning the next day when they finally found Kabuto inside a tiny, dank cave. Kabuto, Deidara had discovered, was some form of combination of Orochimaru and some weirdo. The moment the Akatsuki found Kabuto, they rushed into the cave.

Kabuto turned to face them, a sneer on his face. "My, my, it seems the Akatsuki have finally found me. It certainly took you long enough."

"We would have fucking found you sooner if you weren't such a shit-faced coward," Hidan snorted.

"Come now, surely you must have enjoyed the shinobi I had sent you to face?" Kabuto asked, his sneer never leaving.

Deidara decided he _really_ didn't like that sneer. He hated cocky bastards.

"No more running, right, Lapdog?" Sakura asked, grinning widely.

"No more running," Kabuto assured her, his eyes moving to land on her. "I can take all of you own my own quite well. And when I am done, I will use you in my Impure World Ressurection jutsu."

"Do not presume yourself to be so skilled," Pein said, his voice thin and holding a warn tone to it.

"Yeah, seriously," Sakura snorted. "You against the entire Akatsuki? You don't stand a chance."

Kabuto smiled nastily at her. "You don't have any room to talk, Sakura. You can't even fight me yourself."

"I've only fought you once," Sakura snapped. "And if you honestly think I'm going to be stupid enough to rise for that bait and challenge you to a one-on-one death match, you're sadly mistaken. I am perfectly content with remaining as Sasori-no-Danna's puppet and indirectly killing you. So long as you're dead in the end and I had some say in it, I don't give a shit."

Hidan and Deidara laughed at Kabuto's briefly furious expression before the snake-man schooled his features. "No matter… I will win either way…"

"Deidara," Pein drawled. "This cave is too unstable and tight. Give us some room."

A grin lit up Deidara's face and he pushed his hands into his clay bags, chewing up some of the clay and spitting a fair bit out into his hands. His fingers worked quickly as he used his chakra to mold the clay into his hands. In one hand he finished molding a piece and threw the piece down—his favorite bird—before hopping on said piece. In his other hand he continued to mold his largest explosive.

When it was complete, Deidara hurled it up towards the ceiling. "Get ready for a _real_ art show, yeah!"

Sasori snorted.

"_Katsu!_"

The explosion was massive but it was only the beginning, Deidara soared out of the good sized hole in the ceiling he made, his hands already working furiously to make more explosives. The moment he was high up in the sky and he finished, he hurled down his explosives towards the top of the cave.

It erupted into a beautiful work of art.

Deidara was so proud of it.

When the smoke and explosion cleared, Deidara watched as the battle began. He'd only interfere if necessary, but for the moment he was content in watching his seniors have the time of their life (Minus Itachi, Pein and Konan—as those three opted to watch as well) fighting a surprisingly powerful opponent.

Deidara grinned when he saw Sasori had allowed Sakura to land a solid punch against Kabuto, forcing the snake guy to hurtle towards Hidan who nearly sliced his leg off. He managed to twist and dodge it at the last second and only lost part of his foot.

His grin widened as he watched the fight progress. _Maybe the Akatsuki guys aren't so bad after all, yeah. After all, they do have good choices for movies, hmm._

* * *

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* * *

**(Third Person POV – Nagato)**

Nagato watched beside Konan as the battle continued on between some of the Akatsuki members and Kabuto. After Kabuto had lost part of his foot, he had howled in pain, his eyes narrowed into furious slits.

"I will not be defeated! I have come so far already," Kabuto snarled, his hands moving furiously into seals. In the same movement, Kakuzu's water and lightning masks merged and launched a devastating attack towards the snake man. Nagato himself was unsure if he could actually dodge such attack—it was moving simply that fast—but somehow Kabuto managed to dodge it.

After he had dodged the attack, he twisted away and launched a massive water dragon towards the group. Sasori quickly yanked Sakura out of there and Hidan didn't even bother trying to dodge it. Kabuto's furious gaze swung around them and Nagato watched with morbid fascination as a face slowly grew out of his stomach.

"Genjutsu," Sakura called out.

Nagato blinked slowly as he saw the face slowly merged further into the upperbody of a young girl, holding a flute to her lips.

_That must be the genjutsu user from the Sound Four Kabuto had absorbed,_ Nagato thought, watching as Kabuto sneered. A shrill sound filled the air and Nagato inwardly winced at it. He could tell if he allowed it to go on a headache was sure to develop.

Well he couldn't allow that, now could he?

Raising his hand, he halfheartedly pushed Kabuto harashly away where he slammed into some rubble. The sound immediately stopped.

Konan rubbed her ears beside him. He could tell she was just as annoyed with the sound as he was.

"When was Madara supposed to be showing up again?" Nagato asked.

"He should already be up and about," Konan answered.

"Then it's probably best to wrap this up," Nagato concluded. "Itachi, are you ready?"

"Yes, Leader-sama," Itachi replied.

"Good," Nagato said, standing up. "Akatsuki, let's finish this up and return to the others."

"Yessir!" Sakura called out cheerily.

With the order given out, Nagato raised his hand towards Kabuto.

It was time to end this.

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

Dear Sakura,

You can always defect to Suna and become my own right hand man (woman). Temari prefers diplomacy and Kankurou refuses to join the ANBU.

I'm sure Naruto won't mind.

Yours,

Gaara

* * *

_Yeah, that's about it as far as 'epic fight scenes' go in the war._

_This is a humor / parody. _

_Sorry for late update as well. ACTS, EoCs, and Finals coming up. All. At. Once. _ಠ_ಠ

_One more chapter to go then epilogue time. One more chapter to wrap everything up and the epilogue to tie it in a neat little bow. I think I have everything covered in the last chapter but if you guys have any more questions that I haven't somehow managed to answer, this is your last chance to ask._

_Thanks again for all the wonderful people who have offered to Beta, and thanks again to my new Betas. I will hopefully post the first chapter of each story the day I post the epilogue. _

_Ah... I feel kind of sad this story is coming to an end. But I'm looking forward to my new stories._

_I'd like to also point out that none of the Akatsuki were seriously / horrendously injured when going into the prison. They were low on chakra, sure. Fatigued, of course. But the worse case would be Sasori who was just covered in a poison that would wear off over time and Nagato who's body was pretty much effed over. But healing services were offered before he went in so it can only be assumed that he took that offer up. _

_So yeah. They could fight. _

**_Answer: _**_Currently Rock Lee and his Ninja Pals or w/e _

**_Question: _**_Favorite comedians? _

_Reviews are **love**._

_And before any non-gamers ask, OP means Original Post or in more recent and common term, Overpowered._

_Come on, let's face it. They so are. Lapdog didn't stand a helluva chance. Oh well. I love them anyway._


	54. Concluding the War

_"I eat too much - Parents complain._

_I don't eat enough - Parents complain._

_I'm always in my room - Parents complain._

_I always go out - Parents complain._

_I CAN'T FUCKING WIN."_

_-Anonymous_

_**Disclaimer: **Naruto is Kishimoto's toy but Lilly is mine._

_**Warning: **Spoilers? Language? Madara's sexiness?_

* * *

Dear Gaara,

If I could honeymoon anywhere in the world, I think I would go to… you know what? I don't know where. I haven't the faintest clue.

I'm seriously running out of conversation starters. Weren't you the one who was supposed to start the conversations now?

Suspicious of you,

Sakura

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

"I'm sore," I muttered, running alongside Sasori as the Akatsuki members as I headed back to the front line. After we had released the jutsu, killed Kabuto, we then proceeded to cremate him and scatter his ashes. We weren't taking the chances of someone else popping up and resurrecting _him_.

Sasori spared me a glance. "You were the one who allowed me to use you as a puppet."

"I know. And it was awesome," I said with a grin. "Weird. But totally awesome. You just kind of pushed my body to the limit so I'm a bit sore. Oh well. At least the bastard's dead now."

"He better be, little fucker," Hidan muttered a little ways behind me.

I snickered.

"We will escort you to the medical squad before we join up with Naruto and the Kage," Nagato said ahead of me.

"Can't I go to the front lines?" I pouted. "I want to talk to my sons! Naruto and Kurama are best friends by now and I simply _have_ to hug and cuddle with Kurama. It's simply a must."

"The Jubi hasn't been awakened," Itachi mused. "Sasuke and Naruto are already enaged with Madara and Tobi is currently… distracted. I don't see why she can't come along."

I beamed at Itachi. Nagato shot him a withering look. "The Kage ordered all medical shinobi to return to the base and tend to the wounded."

"Damn it. I really wanted to add Madara-sama to my harem collection. His sexiness would have totally completed it," I said.

"You do not need to add anyone else to your harem," Sasori said dryly. "Another reason why you _will not_ be attending the front lines. I think we can all agree you and Madara would just be a horrible combination."

"Hey!"

"That's probably true," Itachi commented thoughtfully. "You would shower him with love and adoration. If your _sama_ at the end is any indication I would guess that you idolize him as well. And we all know how blinded you are by idolization. You'd let him get away with nearly anything. You would actually probably _assist _him with nearly anything."

"That's not... okay, so what? I swear by Madara's sexiness that he would have still been awesome to be in my harem. I'm totally willing to stick him in the Spirit Prison too," I insisted. "I bet Naruto's Therapy-Jutsu with a combination of mine would definitely make him more... nice?"

"Not taking the chance," Nagato said flatly. "Follow your orders."

"Fine. But could someone _please_ pass a message along to Kurama and the others for me? Pretty please?"

"If it's not degrading to say, I might," Sasori said.

I frowned. "… On second thought, let me write it down and you can just give it to them."

"That works too," Kisame chuckled.

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

Once again, I found myself covered in blood when Jiraiya tapped me on the shoulder. I blinked up at him curiously. My time at the medical field proved very… nice, actually. No one died. Or at least, I didn't let anyone die here…

Jiraiya gave me a huge grin and motioned for me to head outside. "Come on, we're waiting."

I blinked again, wiping the blood off my face and hands before following after him.

Outside, I found the rest of Team 7, battered, bruised, and tired but very much alive. My eyes landed on Naruto and I grinned so widely at seeing him alive and relatively well, I lurched away from Jiraiya and barreled into him.

Naruto hugged me tightly and chuckled quietly. "Hi Momma."

"Hey son… sorry, _sons_," I said with an even bigger smile. "Did you get my message?"

Naruto outright laughed. "I did! Kurama's expression when I read it to him was hilarious. Oh, here, he wants to talk to you."

I watched as Naruto's clear blue eyes transformed into a familiar red and his pupils turned into slits. Kurama stared at me.

"Hello darling," I cooed, moving forward and kissing his cheek. "I take it you're alright?"

"I am… fine," Kurama said carefully, eyeing me. "But I ask that you do not refer to me as… _Fluffy_… Ever. Again."

"That seems fair enough," I allowed. "But you have to allow me to dote on you."

"That seems… acceptable," Kurama said. "… You are strange."

"I know," I said with a grin. "But that's okay because I love you anyway."

"So it seems," Kurama murmured before switching places with Naruto again. Naruto blinked as his eyes returned to normal.

I ruffled his hair before stepping away from him and turning to Sasuke.

"Got your revenge?"

Sasuke stared at me. "… Yes."

"Satisfied?"

"I don't know. I think I'm still in light shock."

"Fair enough. Content to stay in Konoha?"

Sasuke glanced over my shoulder at Naruto and shrugged. "Not like he'd allow me to go anywhere else."

"That's true," I agreed. Then I grinned again and lurched forward. I hugged Sasuke tightly. "Glad to have you officially back, Sasuke."

Sasuke returned the hug awkwardly, patting my back. "… It's… nice to be back."

Release him, I then turned to Kakashi. "So… how was the fight with… Tobi?"

"Horrible," Kakashi said tiredly. "But… I am glad I knew beforehand."

I nodded sympathetically. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"I am too," Kakashi admitted.

Naruto gave a massive yawn and I chuckled. "Alright, we can finish our sappy reuinion later. Let's get you checked up, ne?"

"Not quite yet," Kakashi said carefully. "I'm not the real Kakashi, just a clone... the real Kakashi is kind of bringing someone along."

"Madara?" I asked hopefully.

"Other one," Sasuke muttered.

"Tobi?" I inquired incredulously. "You mean he's actually still alive?"

"Barely," Naruto admitted. "I was hoping you could heal him since you're kind of the only medical-nin we can trust not to kill him and stuff."

"So your Therapy-Jutsu worked?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yeah," Naruto said cheerfully. "He turned on Madara rather quickly. Then again Madara wasn't really that much of a bad guy. He was pretty willing to let his plans go after I used Therapy Jutsu on him too. But Sasuke wanted his revenge and all so Madara was like 'Eh. Whatever. I might as well go out with a bang.' So he and Sasuke fought and then the Akatsuki joined in and damn Madara was pretty pleased about that. He went down after a while though which just left Obito."

"I... see," I said, a little disappointed. "Did you ask him to join my harem, by chance?"

"No," Sasuke said quickly.

"Yes," Naruto said. "I knew you'd want him to join and he said... I have it written down here, give me a second."

Naruto pulled out a slip of paper before handing it to me. I looked over it.

_No way in Hell._

_-Madara_

_P.S. Yes. I know I am attractive. Feel free to continue to swear by it._

I sniffled. "I will, Madara-sama. Screw swearing to Pein, I swear I will swear by your sexiness for as long as I live. How did he know I swore by that though? I've only started doing that recently."

"Sasori," Naruto explained. "He mentioned within earshot to Madara that he didn't see the attraction and why you had to swear by it."

"Ah," I said. "Well... at least I have Tobito."

"About that," Naruto began, "we know how everyone is going to be pretty up and arms against Tobi for a bit. So we were hoping you'd stick him in your prison for a bit. Just until things cool down and whatnot."

"You won't find me complaining," I said with a smile.

"I figured as much," Sasuke grumbled.

"Ah. Here I come with him now," Kakashi said. "Later."

With a puff of smoke, the clone of Kakashi was gone. And soon the real Kakashi-with a less than stellar Tobi draped over his shoulders-arrived.

"Bring smexy-voice in the tent," I instructed. "I'll patch him up."

"Thanks Sakura," Kakashi said, relief clear in his tone. "I know he's done a lot but..."

"But he's still Obito to you, I get it," I said. "I'll see you guys later, after I'm done with this guy, 'kay?"

"Later Momma," Naruto said with a smile.

Sasuke grunted and Kakashi ruffled my hair.

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

I yawned tiredly as I followed behind Nagato into the Kage meeting. The war technically ended three hours ago and now that the Kage were well enough to talk, it was time to talk.

We entered the room and I moved to sit beside Tsunade, as Nagato moved to sit across the Kage.

A sat up straight, his eyes locking with Nagato. "Has your… Akatsuki decided on what they are to do?"

Nagato gave a slow nod. "As per our agreement. In exchange for our services in the war, all charges against all members of the Akatsuki are cleared and each member will be allowed to be welcomed back—or joined—in any of the Hidden Villages. Those that do not wish to join the villages will continue under my rule and the Akatsuki will be reformed as an organization with a different goal.

"The new Akatsuki will serve as an unbiased unit that will be filled with shinobi, kunoichi or representatives of _all_ of the villages—one per village—and will work towards holding perfect peace in the land and preventing any more wars," Nagato said with a slight tilt of his head.

It was so much more than that though. The new Akatsuki would be comprised of completely unbiased elite shinobi who all had one thing in mind—peace. They were the equivalent to my old world's UN only they were allowed to really defend themselves instead of just warning shots. It was their job to prevent any more wars and should any terrorist group arise like the old Akatsuki, it was their job to end them.

That wasn't all. Any member of the new Akatsuki would be welcomed into any of the villages. This new Akatsuki would stop tyrants like Gato from ever forming (not that none would try—let's face it, humans aren't perfect and some will continue to try simply for the sake of ambition or greed), they'd be starting the first major steps to eliminating prejudice against villages, jinchuuriki, and just about anyone else. They'd be _all_ of the smaller countries first line of defense and voice to the bigger countries and each other.

There was more to it, but that was the jist of it. This new Akatsuki would be the shinobi world's first huge step to true peace. And I couldn't think of anyone better to lead it than Nagato (or perhaps Naruto, but he wants to be Hokage so that's not happening).

And hopefully peace would finally at last be achieved. At least until the shinobi world inevitably starts migrating to the west to conquer it. But you know, don't look a gift horse in the mouth, right?

Already most of the Kage already had their own shinobi who were itching to join the new Akatsuki.

"Uchiha Itachi has elected to stay in Konoha," Nagato said. Tsunade dipped her head at this.

"Hoshigaki Kisame has asked to tour each village before deciding which one he would like to join," Nagato continued.

The Kage exchanged glances.

"Konoha permits it," Tsunade said.

"Suna permits it.

"Iwa allows it."

"Kumo… grants permission."

"Kiri permits it."

"Hidan has asked to join Kumo for the time being," Nagato said. "More importantly to join their…" Nagato paused, "torture and interrogation program."

I almost snickered. Kumo was definitely more military centered than some of the others villages and now that Kiri was trying to change for the better, the best chance Hidan had of maintaining a healthy dosage of battle and gore was Kumo. By asking for torture and interrogation, he was just securing a job at doing what he loved to do best.

How long he would stay in Kumo, I had no idea.

A grinned. "Granted."

"Kakuzu requests to follow Kisame's example."

The Kage dipped their heads in acknowledgement, signifying they accepted it.

"Akasuna Sasori has asked to… join Konoha."

Tsunade smiled. "Accepted."

"Deidara has also asked to join Konoha."

My lips twitched in a smile. Of course. Wherever Sasori went, Deidara went. Though I guess that also makes sense as Iwa hates Konoha (or hat_ed_, I'm not sure where they stand now) and Deidara despised Iwa.

"Konan will remain under my leadership in the new Akatsuki," Nagato finished after Tsunade gave the clear for Deidara to join.

"So be it," A said, his deep voice rumbling. "This meeting is adjourned."

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

"So, you're coming to Konoha?" I said with a teasing grin at Sasori.

Sasori gave me a look. "Where else would I go?"

"I don't know. I just… I don't know. Whatever your reasoning for going, I'm really happy you chose Konoha."

"Why wouldn't I choose Konoha?" Sasori muttered to himself. "_Somemone_ has to keep an eye on you. I can't trust your sons or your teammates, they'd just let you go along with whatever crazy plan you have cooked up next."

"Maybe," I said, still grinning.

"Sakura."

My head whipped around and my eyes widened.

"Well look who it is," Sasori teased. "I guess you two have some talking to do."

I blushed brightly.

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

It was officially six hours after the war that my shock of actually winning the war wore off and I realized… _We won war._

Night had fallen and I had opted to go for a midnight stroll to get lost in my musings when this realization hit me.

We won the war.

Everyone was alive… and we won the war.

Emotions, all of the emotions I had shoved away inside of me since the funeral bubbled up. We won. We won, we won, we won, wewonwewonwewon.

I fell to the floors and suddenly I couldn't help myself.

I laughed. I laughed and I cried and I screamed and I giggled. It was done.

It was _finally fucking done_.

I had done it. I really had done it.

My sides heaved painfully as I tried to draw in a breath and my eyes burned from the tears and I could feel a headache coming on but I just couldn't bring myself to care. All the pressure… all the regrets that I had shoved so far back inside of me… all of it…

I had never felt so free since that day.

I was free. I really fucking was.

The burden was no longer mine to bear—there was no more burden to bear at all. All my precious people were safe and happy and whole. No one was in any more serious danger and I wasn't anyone special anymore.

I was just regular old me. Haruno Sakura.

Just medical kunoichi with a knack for poison and water and earth jutsus. Summoner of Salamanders and student of Jiraiya and Kakashi.

And by God, it never felt so good.

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

Dear Sakura,

Don't be ridiculous. I have no idea what you're talking about.

Yours,

Gaara

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

BONUS SCENE:

"Naruto," Sasori said, landing beside the heavily breathing boy. Naruto looked up at him.

"Sakura has a message for you and Kurama," Sasori said, handing him the slip of paper.

Naruto frowned, glancing over it before laughing.

**What does it say?** Kurama asked.

"I'll read it out loud for you," Naruto said with a grin.

_"Hello my darling, dearest sons. This first message is to Naruto. Hi honey! I hope you're faring well with your fight and all. Be sure to taunt Duck-Ass for me._"

"Hey!" Sasuke snapped.

"What are you doing?" Madara inquired, his eyes narrowed as he looked down at the small group below him.

Sasori took this time to size him up. "... I don't get it."

"Don't get what?" Obito asked, frowning.

Sasori pointed to Madara. "Why she swears by his sexiness. I don't found him sexy at all."

"Who swears by my _what?_" Madara deadpanned.

"Hush," Naruto snapped. "I'm reading her letter. I was good and didn't interrupt it when you two were talking so can't you show the same curtasy with me?"

"My apologies," Madara said dryly.

Naruto nodded sagely. "Apology accepted. See, isn't that wonderful? Forgiveness is such a wonderful thing. I forgave you, and I feel so much better for it-"

"Choke on your tongue and die," Madara snapped. "Read your damn letter you brat."

Naruto cleared his throat. "_I hope you're able to use your Therapy-Jutsu on Tobi and sweetheart if you could use it on Madara-sama that would be wonderful as well. In fact, if you asked him to join my harem instead of choosing to be sealed away I'll bake you as many cookies as you want for a _week_. Because clearly Edo-Tensai is seriously overpowered and he really could choose to live out (metaphorically of course) a much happier life now and I feel that if he joined my harem it would just benefit everyone. So be sure to ask him, okay?"_

"Her... what?" Madara looked at Obito, his brow furrowed. "Her who?"

"Sakura," Obito explained, nodding his head wisely. "She has a reverse-harem. It's very exclusive."

"... You're joking, right?"

"Nope. I'm assuming she wants me to join as well?" At this, Obito glanced down at the group.

"Oh yeah," Naruto answered, nodding. "She was pretty adamant about it."

"... I'll about it."

Naruto grinned widely.

Sasuke face-palmed along with the majority of the Akatsuki members.

Madara gave Obito a look of disbelief. "Why?_ Why_ would you possibly do that?"

"She's fun," Obito admitted. "How many of you can honestly say that she doesn't entertain you?"

The Akatsuki all exchanged sheepish glances, Sasuke looked pointedly away, coughing.

"That's what I thought," Obito said. "If by some rare and impossible chance that I live and turn over a new leaf, I'd rather have an entertaining life. Besides, if I joined I'm pretty much guaranteed a life with little persecution. The Hokage adores her and Naruto too much and if I get the clear by both of them..."

"But you _won't _be turning over a new leaf," Madara hissed.

"Oh I know," Obito agreed. "It's just better to have back-up plans."

Madara eyed him before giving a reluctant nod in agreement. "I suppose that makes sense..."

"So will _you_ join?" Naruto asked, looking at Madara.

Madara stared at him. "Does anyone have a piece of paper and pen?"

"I do," Itachi said.

"Why?" Sasuke asked incredulously.

"If being around Sakura has taught me anything it is to be ready for anything," Itachi said wisely.

"That is a very good point," Kakashi admitted.

"You can get your note after I finish this," Naruto decided. "_This next part is to my darling, precious, dearest Fluffy._"

"Fluffy?" Madara deadpanned.

"Kurama," Naruto clarified. "That's the nickname she gave him a long time ago."

**Wench,** Kurama hissed, and Naruto could practically feel the embarrassment rolling off of him.

"_I know we haven't met on spectacular terms but I want you to know that I do love you, lots and lots. I want you to be safe, alright? And behave. I don't want to have to come in there with a _bigger _paddle, sweetheart._"

"Paddle?" Kakashi asked, glancing at his student.

**You tell them _nothing_, **Kurama snarled.

"Nothing," Naruto said, grinning. "Well, that's the letter. She really does love you, Kurama."

**... Whatever.**

"So my pen and paper...?" Madara inquired.

"Oh... right."

* * *

_Why didn't I do the Jinchuuriki Sealing Arc?_

_... Why would I? Sakura wasn't really in it that much and when she was it wasn't really anything noteworthy (I think). So why would I rewrite something that would basically stay cannon? I wouldn't insert Sakura into helping Naruto with Kurama because I personally feel that's a very touching and personal scene. While I'm sure it would have been funny, it was a moment of Naruto meeting his actual mother. Something I think shouldn't really be messed up too much from cannon. _

_So I didn't do the arc because I didn't feel like rewriting out something that would mostly be cannon. I've done enough of that as it is. _

_Will I do a scene where Naruto and Sasuke are reunited / Kakashi finding out about Obito?_

_No. Why? Because it would be forced. I'm not writing something that I don't have the motivation to do otherwise it'll turn out shitty and crappy. I'd rather there was no scene instead of a shitty and crappy one and I think you would to. So no to those scenes. You can probably guess what would happen in them anyway._

_Alright. _

_That's pretty much it._

_Obito is saved because I think it would be a little out of place in this story if he wasn't. And I'm totally biased. _

_All that's left is the epilogue(s?). _

_I'll be posting them on the same day that I post the first chapters to my stories. _

_**Answer: **Bill Cosby and Dane Cook. I'd say Pewdiepie as well but I'm not sure if he *technically* counts. _

_**Question: **What's something interesting about yourself? Can't say that there isn't something, because there is. There always is. _

_Reviews are **love**._

_See you all one last time._

_Less than three you all._


	55. Epilogue(s)

In order to avoid World War III AKA the Pairing Wars in my inbox, I wrote three different endings.

Choose whichever ending you like.

That way everyone is happy and I don't have to waste time arguing over pairings for my own character. ಠ_ಠ You know who you are.

* * *

**ENDING 1 - **

I stretched out luxuriously on our couch, yawning widely as I slowly reentered the waking world. Opening my eyes, I glanced over at the seat across from mine to find Hinata snoozing quietly still. I looked down at my lap to find Ino using it as a pillow, before glancing down at the floor to find Temari snuggled in blankets. Finally, I looked back at the recliner to my left and found Tenten snoring softly.

I smiled widely.

It was rare to receive girl's night. All of us were usually preoccupied with missions or just generally not in the same village. So when we were all together with some free time I kicked my husband out of the house. Not that he complained that much. He quite enjoyed spending time with his precious little Duck-Ass.

I rolled my eyes at the very thought.

Wiggling out from under Ino, I carefully escaped her without waking her before I went off to get dressed and go through the morning routine.

By the time that was done, Hinata was up as well though for different reasons than I.

She rushed past me, racing towards the bathroom.

"Morning sickness?" I asked.

Hinata gave me the barest of nods before slamming the door shut.

I shook my head sympathetically before walking out into the living room.

"Alright ladies, up and about! I have two hours to get this place ready for the Annual Reunion," I shouted, clapping my hands.

Ino moaned in despair, clutching her head.

Temari snorted. "Damn the reunion. Damn it to hell and back. I want to _sleep_."

"It's three in the afternoon," I deadpanned. "Move your ass."

"Screw my ass," Tenten muttered.

"No, that's Neji's job," I retorted.

Ino snickered and Tenten just stuck her tongue out.

"Move it," I ordered.

"Yes Uchiha-sama," Temari mocked.

I flipped her off. She knew I hated to be referred to as that.

* * *

Sasuke shifted the little boy in his arms, bouncing him softly. The little toddler, not even two years old, giggled.

"Shisui," I said softly, "come on sweetheart. Let's leave your stupid little uncle alone."

Shisui giggled again and Sasuke shot me a glare.

"Go die," Sasuke ordered.

"Age before beauty," I retorted, stealing my son away from him. "Where's my husband?"

"With Kisame out back," Sasuke said. Deidara's getting the fireworks set up now.

"Mn," I mumbled, shifting to better hold my son. "Hinata's looking for Naruto so when you see him...?"

Sasuke nodded. "I think he's out front with the other Kages."

"My Epic Rival is here?" I asked, smiling widely.

"No," Sasuke said a little too quickly.

I winked. "I see how it is."

"Don't be a bad influence on your son," Sasuke begged.

"Maybe," I allowed.

With another smirk, I started heading out back, feeling oddly nostalgic. Everything had gone quite well since the war. The Akatsuki had taken a stupendous turn for the better with Nagato in the lead. The ties between _all _of the villages had never been so strong and peace resting over the land. Nagato and Konan were doing quite well themselves, happily together (I was the maid of honor-oh _hell yes!_). The original Akatsuki members seemed to be very content with their lives. Kisame had chosen to stay in Konoha, joining the ANBU for a time and working with me and a few of the others several times. He retired when my son was born, opting to remain as a Jounin. He currently had his own Genin Team and was very pleased with them.

Sasori and Deidara had joined the ANBU at the same time I had, Sasori being my main partner for the ANBU in fact. Deidara retired before we did, wanting to have to start his own team. His Genin Team were absolutely adorable together and they would be taking the upcoming Chūnin Exams. Hidan remained in Kumo and absolutely adores it there. He's bragged about his job many times over and Kumo has bragged about Hidan's skill in... interrogation as well. Kakuzu, after deciding to stay in Konoha managed to work a negotiation with Naruto. In exchange for his loyalty to Konoha he could move freely enough to pursue his own bounties and keep his own money. But he had to accept the occasional mission and he had to obey Naruto if he gave a direct order. Not to mention every now and then Kakuzu had to be Naruto's financial advisor for Konoha… But it was better than being a missing-nin, as far as I could tell anyway.

The rest of the Konoha Eleven (and Sand Trio... and Yamato and Sai) were faring just as well, everyone either married with kids or happily single and devoting their life to the shinobi arts.

Tobi, after spending two years in the Spirit Prison was deemed safe and sane enough to be released. He chose to stay in Konoha and he was taking on his first Genin Team within a month. He said after everyone on his team made it to Jōnin rank, he would retire. The senseis of Konoha Eleven were also nearing retirement. Kurenai retired early when her third child was born and Asuma was retiring within a month. Gai and Kakashi weren't quite ready to retire, but Kakashi opted to retire at the same time Obito did.

Jiraiya had combined his spy network with Sasori's and thus created a far more stable network that didn't require him to be travelling around constantly. He retired about a year ago, choosing to remain in Konoha as one of Naruto's advisors (but honestly he spent the majority of his time researching... not that _I_ was complaining!). Tsunade had retired _years_ ago and unsurprisingly gave Naruto the mantle of the Hokage. She remained in Konoha, choosing to push forward her long desired medical program. After the war she was even able to push for a law that every shinobi team leaving the village must have at least one shinobi or kunoichi with her definition of basic medical training. Any team leaving with a B rank and above must have at least one medical ninja per squad.

The colonization to the west was actually going to begin in a few years. The shinobi nations were most eager for it and I had to confess I was too. It was the next big adventure, right?

I found my husband, in the middle of a conversation with Naruto and Hinata. He noticed me quickly, stopping his conversation and moving swiftly and gracefully towards me. He bent down and kissed my forehead before doing the same to our son.

"Lilly," Itachi breathed.

"Itachi," I greeted him with a sly smile. I then looked around him. "Son, Daughter-in-law."

Hinata beamed brightly at me, as did Naruto.

"Hey Momma," Naruto chirped. "Have you seen Minato?"

"Mm-mm," I denied. "How could you lose your one-year old son?"

Hinata laughed quietly. "Naruto gave him to Neji-niisan."

Ah. That explained it.

"He kidnapped him again?" I guessed dubiously.

"Something like that," Naruto admitted.

"Then he's probably still with him or Tenten," I suggested.

"Who wants to see me blow some shit up, yeah?!"

"Who doesn't?" Kiba hollered back from his position in the far back.

Itachi's arm wrapped around my waist and I leaned into him.

"Deidara, just go set off the fireworks already!" I shouted.

Deidara-who had taken a position up onto the roof-stuck his tongue out at me. "Yeah, yeah..."

Sasuke moved to stand beside Itachi and myself, his arms outstretched.

I placed Shisui in them. "You kidnap your godson and I will kill you."

Sasuke didn't say anything, just shifted the boy in his arms while Itachi leaned around me and poke him in the forehead.

Sasuke scowled at that but still didn't say anything.

"Teme, have _you_ seen Minato?" Naruto asked.

"Tenten has him," Sasuke answered.

Naruto whirled around, his eyes settling on the weapons mistress who was holding a boy with bright blonde hair and pale white eyes. "Oi! Tenten! Give me back my son!"

"Aw, just a little longer? Please? He's _so_ adorable."

"I know but he's _mine, _damn it! I worked hard to make him."

Hinata giggled and I snickered.

Naruto unashamedly continued his shout, "That's an order as your Hokage!"

"That's just abusing your power!"

"Don't care!"

Whatever Tenten was going to say next, was lost as the first firework bloomed across the darkening sky.

I felt myself smiling at the scene, enjoying the bright lights.

Itachi moved down and gave me a gentle kiss. "Happy nine-year reunion."

I moved up and kissed Itachi carefully. "Happy nine-year anniversary."

**GOOD ENDING: PATIENT LOVE**

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

**ENDING 2 -**

"Congratulations, as of right now Foxy-chan, you are now retired from ANBU," Naruto said, his voice surprisingly formal. "I would like personally thank you for being with me and serving me for so long as my ANBU Head Commander. It's been an honor. As per tradition, we will be holding a retirement party for you where you can invite anyone you wish. As you have already submitted your guest list _weeks_ ago, we already have the party planned out and the guests will be arriving shortly. Thank you again for all your hard work, Foxy-chan."

"It's been an honor," I replied sincerely. "I am pleased to have been of such great service to you, Hokage-sama."

Naruto gave a single nod in affirmation, his lips twitching as a smile threatened to break out.

"You may not remove your mask for the last time," Naruto instructed.

I did as I was told, removing my smooth white mask.

A smile broke out across Naruto's face and my own face mimicked his soon enough. I moved forward and hugged him as he hugged me back. "Thanks for everything, Momma!"

"It was fun," I admitted, pulling back and ruffling his hair. "Besides, I'll never get over how you chose _me_ over Duck-Ass."

There was a small cough behind us that we pointedly ignored.

I smiled brightly before ruffling Naruto's hair again. I then stepped back and took up a more stiff and formal position.

The male beside me continued to hold his formal stance, his own ANBU mask-panther-gleaming in the office light. Naruto lost his grin and shifted awkwardkly.

I cleared my throat, raising an eyebrow in expectation.

They continued to remain silent, shifting awkwardly.

"Hyō-san, isn't there someone else who would like to request retiring," I hissed through clenched teeth, glaring at the ANBU.

He shifted again, a bit more nervous than before. "... About that..."

"No," I snarled. "There is no _'about that'._ We _agreed_ on it. If I had to retire because _you_ got me pregnant, you damn straight had to retire _right afterwards_ because I am _not _allowing _my baby_ to become an orphan if I can help it."

"... But being a regular Jōnin isn't _nearly _as much fun."

My eyes narrowed dangerously. "Sweetheart, I am hormonal right now. You do not want to mess with me. You have one last chance to request your retirement or I'll damage you enough that you have no choice _but_ to retire."

"Bitch."

"Prick!"

"Flat-chest."

"You leave the girls outta this," I snapped, balling up my fists.

"Teme... you aren't going to win this," Naruto sighed. "Hinata-chan was the same. You just can't win with pregnant women."

"... Can't I at least _try_?"

"No," Naruto and I said together.

"... Hokage-sama, I request to retire from the ANBU Black-Ops. Preferably to be enacted within two months-"

I cleared my throat.

"One mon-"

I glowered.

"Two wee-"

I raised my fist.

"One week. Effective immediately."

"A week," Naruto agreed. "Very well. If there's nothing else, shall we get to the party?"

Immediately my irritation and anger vanished. "Oh hell yes!"

* * *

Everything had worked out for the best. The new Akatsuki, under Nagato's leadership, had taken a wonderful turn and managed to establish true peace within the Elemental Nations. The old Akatsuki was going strong as well. Kakuzu, after deciding to stay in Konoha managed to work a negotiation with Naruto. In exchange for his loyalty to Konoha he could move freely enough to pursue his own bounties and keep his own money. But he had to accept the occasional mission and he had to obey Naruto if he gave a direct order. Not to mention every now and then Kakuzu had to be Naruto's financial advisor for Konoha… But it was better than being a missing-nin, as far as I could tell anyway. Hidan remained in Kumo and seemed positively thrilled about it. The few times we were able to meet up, he bragged about his job constantly. Kisame and Itachi also chose to remain in Konoha. Though Itachi kept his Jōnin Rank and had recently acquired his own Genin Team, Kisame chose to join the ANBU. He and I had worked together many times in our time in the ANBU. Sasori and Deidara had also joined the ANBU ranks, but Sasori retired about a week before I did. He was my main partner throughout ANBU and explained only that he didn't really want to remain in ANBU if I wasn't there. Deidara and Kisame were still in the ANBU as far as I knew but Deidara mentioned retiring as well to grab his own Team. Kisame mentioned something similar.

Jiraiya and Sasori had managed to combine their spy networks to create something far more stable that didn't require him to be constantly traveling about. Instead he had 'officially' retired roughly a year ago to remain in Konoha as Naruto's advisor. Tsunade retired a handful of years ago and unsurprisingly passed on the Hokage mantle to Naruto. She remained in Konoha, choosing to push forward her long desired medical program. After the war she was even able to push for a law that every shinobi team leaving the village must have at least one shinobi or kunoichi with her definition of basic medical training. Any team leaving with a B rank and above must have at least one medical ninja per squad.

The rest of the Konoha Eleven (and Sand Trio... and Yamato and Sai) were faring just as well, everyone either married with kids or happily single and devoting their life to the shinobi arts.

Tobi had been released from the Spirit Prison after spending two years within it. He was currently enjoying a little vacation time with Kakashi, Gai and Asuma before he attempted to grab his own Genin Team. The senseis of the Konoha Eleven were faring just as well as their students. Kurenai was planning to retire as well with her third child on the way and Asuma promised her he would retire in a few years. Kakashi mentioned that he would stay active for as long as Obito was, mentioning how he didn't want to abandon his friend ever again (which was incredibly sweet, I thought).

The colonization to the west was actually going to begin in a few years. The shinobi nations were most eager for it and I had to confess I was too. It was the next big adventure, right?

All in all... things were working out for the best.

"LET'S BLOW THIS SHIT UP, YEAH!"

I face-palmed as Deidera set off another _eighteen _fireworks above the Hokage Monument.

Sasori sighed right along with me and Sasuke shook his head.

Deidara, meanwhile, was laughing gleefully atop his flying bird.

"Control your language around Hinata-sama!" Neji barked from below.

"Who wants more BBQ?" Kisame shouted near the grill.

"I do!" Chouji said immediately.

"BBQ," I repeated, mulling the word over before turning to my husband. "I want some BBQ with lemons, pickles, peanut butter and eggs ontop of it."

"You hate pickles," Sasuke said.

"Your child loves them," I retorted.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Why do I have to get them?"

"Because you're whipped."

Sasuke sighed but went ahead towards the food.

"He's so whipped," Sasori observed.

I nodded my head, content with this.

"Have you guys settled on a name or godparent?" Sasori inquired.

I groaned. "Don't even get me started on that... _ever_. We're hoping it's twins so they each have their own godparent."

"What if it's triplets? Who would decide the third godparent?"

"... I _really _hope it's not an odd number."

"Here's your food," Sasuke said, placing a paper plate in my lap while Deidara blew even more shit up in the sky.

"You call that an explosion!" Killer-Bee howled. "That's pathetic! I'll show you a _real_ explosion! Tailed-Beast-Bomb-Explosion!"

"Oh HELL no," Naruto shouted. "Not on top of MY head. Go blow up the Nidaime's head! He's the prick!"

"Naruto!" Tsunade growled.

I leaned into Sasuke, resting my head on his shoulder. "I love my village."

Sasuke gave a small chuckle as we continued to watch the scene unfold. "It has it's merits."

And I gave a bright, sunny grin as the Nidaime's head exploded into a rainbow of colors because clearly Deidara was the master of explosions and he wasn't about to let Bee say otherwise.

I glanced at Sasori and back at Sasuke before I held my cup up to them. "Happy retirement."

"Happy retirement, partner," Sasori murmured softly.

"Happy retirement... Sakura," Sasuke whispered.

And once again the sky bloomed in colors, while I sat back and watched, a hand resting over my stomach and feelings of utter happiness claimed me.

**GOOD ENDING: PINK DUCKS**

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

**ENDING 3 -**

Dear Gaara,

Why are we still writing each other? We see each other every day.

Love,

Sakura

* * *

"Reynard, you get back here this instant!" I shouted at my mischievous son as he grinned back at me. Bright red hair with pale green eyes stared back at me before he was gone and around the corner. The moment he had gone around the corner there was a loud crash and Reynard gave a startled shout.

Sasori appeared around the corner, holding up a struggling little boy.

"Sasori-oji!" Reynard struggled in Sasori's single grip on him. "Put me down!"

"Listen to your mother," Sasori drawled, setting the boy down. Reynard scrambled to his feet, scowling at Sasori before I swooped up behind him and scooped him up. I kissed his cheek.

"Kaa-san!" Reynard gasped in horror. "Don't do that!"

I rolled my eyes and kissed him again. "Behave, no running in the house."

"But—But—Minato was chasing me!"

No sooner had the words left his lips, did a boy about Reynard's age appear around the corner with bright golden hair and pale white eyes. Minato looked up at me and smiled. "Ohaiyo, Obaa-san."

"Ohaiyo, Minato-chan," I said, placing Reynard back on the ground. "No running in the house. You know how Sasuke-oji is."

"Hai, Kaa-san (Obaa-san)."

As the two boys hurried off, Sasori moved behind me, sighing. "You would think they'd learn. The brats."

"You love them anyway," I teased.

"Do not," Sasori said, stubbornly looking away.

"Come on, let's go join everyone else for the BBQ," I said with a slow smile.

Sasori only glanced back at me as we moved through the halls, back out to the Uchiha garden in the back.

The garden was filled to the brim with familiar faces. All of the Rookie Nine, Team Gai, the old Akatsuki, the only two jinchuuriki (as the freed tailed beasts were currently roaming free), the current and old Kages, Jiraiya…

Deidara quickly caught notice of Sasori and me and he grinned, waving his hand. "Sasori-no-Danna, I was just telling Hidan about the time you lost your head—"

"Brat," Sasori snapped, quickly marching towards him. "I did not _lose_ it, I—"

Whatever was he was going to say was lost to me, as I quickly caught hold of my other sons talking with my husband and a certain Uchiha.

I moved towards them, kissing Naruto on the cheek before turning around kissing Kurama's cheek as well. Ever since the war, Naruto has been figuring out a way for Kurama to have more freedom. After about a year of working at his Fuinjutsu skills, he finally developed a seal to place on a shadow clone that transfers Kurama's conscious to it, henges it, and makes it far more stable. As in it won't go _poof_ unless delivered an instant killing blow or Kurama was in the mood for it.

Kurama gave me a sly smile and Naruto grinned widely at me. I gave Sasuke a smile and he returned it with one of his own before my arms snaked around my husband's wasit.

"Hi honey," I said happily, resting my head on his shoulder.

Gaara gave me a small smile, kissing the top of my head. "Hello."

"Naruto, your son was chasing my son again," I informed him.

Kurama laughed. "And I'm sure your son deserved it."

I rolled my eyes.

"So Teme, where's your daughter anyway?"

Mikoto Uchiha, youngest daughter of Duck-Ass was the sweetest little girl anyone has ever met. No, I'm not saying that because I'm biased.

Okay, maybe a little—but she really was the sweetest little thing anyone would ever meet. Her eldest brother, who looked a _lot_ like Itachi, was insanely polite. His name was Shisui Uchiha. The twins, younger than Shisui and older than Mikoto were pranksters in the making. The only way you could tell them apart were their mitchmatched eyes. Akirho had his mother's eye color in his right eye and Ryu had his mother's eye color in his left eye. The rest of the Uchiha children all had their trademark obsidian eyes and dark hair.

"She's with Kakuzu, of course," Sasuke said with a sigh.

Mikoto Uchiha wa the sweetest little girl anyone would ever meet, but she had the oddest fascination (more than likely idolization) with the miser. The miser would never admit it, but she's probably like a granddaughter to him.

Not that he would _ever_ say it out loud, of course.

Naruto snickered. Before he could say anything though, Deidara called for everyone's attention.

"Fireworks time, yeah! Who wants to blow shit up with me this year, hmm?"

"Language!" Hinata chided as she maneuvered through the crowd to stand beside Naruto. Naruto wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

Deidara only grinned at her.

"I do! I do!" Reynard called from his spot beside his uncle.

Sasori gave a sigh and picked up my son and handed him off to Deidara. "Alright. Let's go, yeah."

Reynard gave a bright grin as Deidara took him up in the sky with him.

Kisame and Itachi moved through the crowd, the two old time friends (though neither would verbally admit it) had chosen to stick together. Kisame went to Konoha and joined the ANBU while Itachi finished his treatment. Itachi decided against joining the ANBU and opted to stay as a Jounin, eventually becoming a sensei. Kisame followed his example soon enough and the two always seemed very content where they were.

"Ohaiyho, Kisame-sama," I greeted.

"Ohaiyo, Sakura-chan," Kisame replied, ruffling my hair.

Even after all these years, I still refered to him as _sama_. Which seemed kind of silly as we had partnered up together on ANBU missions multiple times in the past before. But old habits die hard, I supposed.

I glanced over at Nagato and Konan, the two of them standing very contently next to each other as they were in a deep conversation with Jiraiya. Over the years the new Akatsuki organization had shown to be a smashing success, and ties between_ all _of the villages were never so strong before. Jiraiya and Tsunade had retired a couple years before Reynard, Minato and Mikoto were born. Jiraiya choosing instead to be one of Naruto's advisors (though he mostly spent his time writing the Icha Icha series) and Tsunade continued to run the medical training program. After the war she was even able to push for a law that every shinobi team leaving the village must have at least one shinobi or kunoichi with her definition of basic medical training. Any team leaving with a B rank and above must have at least one medical ninja per squad.

Hidan, surprisingly, was very content in Kumo's torture squad. As far as I know, too, Kumo was very content with having Hidan with them.

The rest of the Konoha Eleven were faring just as well, everyone either married with kids or happily single and devoting their life to the shinobi arts. The same applied for the Sand Trio (of course). After Obito was in the Spirit Prison for two years, he was released and managed to grab his own Genin Team. Two of them were already Chūnin and the other being a Jounin. Obito said that he would retire when the other two made it to the Jōnin Rank. Kakashi opted to remain active until Obito was ready to retire, vowing that he would never abandon his best friend again. Gai chose to remain active until Kakashi and Obito retired. Kurenai had retired some years ago with her and Asuma's third child. Asuma retired a few years after her. Yamato planned on retiring the same time Kakashi would.

Deidara was very happy in Konoha—he even had a girlfriend, though we haven't met her yet (Kiba jokes that she doesn't exist and he's really dating Sasori. Sasori's tried to strangle him many times because of this). He, like Itachi and Kisame, had his own Genin team and seemed to love teaching them the 'true meaning of art'.

Sasori, also, was very happy in Konoha. For a while he was my partner in ANBU until I had retired with my Reynard on the way. He seemed to be perfectly happy with working alongside Tsunade at the hospital at times, or developing even more things into the puppet line (or poison).

He's also Reynard's second Godfather. As I wanted Sasori as a Godfather, and Gaara wanted Naruto, we settled for simply not having a Godmother and just having two Godfathers instead. They both seemed fine with that.

"Are we late?" Mikoto ask, rushing towards her father and latching onto his leg with Kakuzu right behind her.

Kakuzu, after deciding to stay in Konoha managed to work a negotiation with Naruto. In exchange for his loyalty to Konoha he could move freely enough to pursue his own bounties and keep his own money. But he had to accept the occasional mission and he had to obey Naruto if he gave a direct order. Not to mention every now and then Kakuzu had to be Naruto's financial advisor for Konoha… But it was better than being a missing-nin, as far as I could tell anyway.

"Nope," Sasuke said, scopping down to pick up his youngest with ease.

"Ohaiyo, Kakuzu," Naruto said with his trademark grin.

"Hokage-sama," Kakuzu said with a dip of his head.

"Oh, there they go," Kisame chuckled, looking up at the darkening sky.

I followed his gaze and looked up at the sky, feeling Gaara's arm around me tightened.

Gaara and I were happily married. I was still a Konoha kunoichi and he was still the Kazekage, but after five years of working through Minato's notes alongside Jiraiya—Naruto found a way to safely transport one person from one place to the next. It wasn't perfect. It could only go so far. But it was enough so that way we were able to live together in Suna (or Konoha, depending on the season).

Konoha had dibs on Reynard, our son to be a shinobi (I won the bet).

The sky echoed as a loud boom filled it, just as lights bloomed above us in all sorts of beautiful colors.

My free hand drifted to my slowly rounding stomach unconsciously.

But Suna had dibs on Shouri.

* * *

Dear Sakura,

I know. But writing was how it all started anyway.

Love,

Gaara

**GOOD ENDING: SUNNY LOVE**

THE END

(FINALLY)

* * *

**( ****｡****◕‿‿◕****｡****)**

* * *

_It's over guys..._

_It's over._

_I hate writing epilogues. I dislike how they turned out. I think I'll probably rewrite them..._

_I want to take the time to say THANK YOU, so very much for everyone who has come this far with me. Really guys, you're amazing. I love you all so much. Thank you especially to those who reviewed / favorited / alerted and just... thanks guys._

_I originally started this story for shits and giggles and I'm amazed it's come this far. So... thank you guys. I'd hug you all but my ability to reach through my computer screen and do so is on the fritz. _(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ

_To answer any lingering questions... She kissed whoever she ended up with in the epilogue. Simple as that. _

**_Answer: _**_I'm hoping to become an engineer. More specifically a physicist engineer._

_STATS FOR SAKURA WHEN FINISHED_

_Words: 257, 687_

_Pages (not counting A/N's in length): 745_

_Communities: 26_

_Reviews: 1661_

_Favorites: 579_

_Followers: 547_

_Published: 09-30-12_

_Finished: 04-03-13_

_Alright. All I have to say now is that my latest two **Naruto inserts **are up. The more serious / somber / reincarnated insert (Nao) titled: Decaying Bluebells. The more humorous / romantic / girl-literally-falls-into-Narutoverse insert titled: Chipped Mask._

_That's all everyone. Thanks again so much for reading my story._

_So... One last time?_

_Reviews are **LOVE**._


	56. BONUS CHAPTER - A Scroll That Does What?

_"Let's face it. If Google didn't exist, we'd all be screwed."_

_-Anonymous_

_**Diclaimer: Lilly is forever my bitch, just as the rest of the characters here are Kishimoto's.**_

_**Warning: **... Sakura. _

**_Beta:_**_ Naaah._

* * *

"So... wait... this is... a time travel scroll?" I asked incredulously. I mean, seriously. Who the hell had ever heard of such a thing?

"That's right," Jiraiya boasted, grinning widely. "It'll only take the user back eleven times before sending them back to the present, but in short, yes."

"And you're just... giving it to me?" I asked, staring at my Shisho in disbelief.

"Think of it as a birthday present."

"That's absurd," I stated. "There has to be a perfectly good reason for you to... oh. I see how it is."

Jiraiya only smiled.

"You want me to be your test dummy," I accused. "You wouldn't give this to Naruto, because he's your godson, but I'm the only other one who trusts you enough to even consider it, and apparently I'm expendable. I see how it is."

"No hard feelings," Jiraiya offered.

"You owe me chocolate and more _Icha Icha_ for this," I snapped. "Fine. I'll try the stupid scroll... how many times did you say it would work?"

"Eleven," Jiraiya clarified.

"Alright. How do I work this thing?" I asked.

"Oh... it's simple... you just..."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

I landed with a thud on a hard grassy floor. I blinked a few times as the dots cleared away from my vision. It was then, that I found myself staring into a set of astonishingly familiar blue eyes. I blinked again.

"What?"

My eyes snapped towards the voice and there, in all his (_adorable_, not that I would _ever_ admit that out loud. I was loyal to Kisame-sama, damn it!) glory, was Obito. Then, I glanced around and found myself in the middle of some sort of loose circle. I was surrounded by kid-Kakashi, Minato, kid-Obito and Rin.

So it worked? Cool.

"Who are you?" Kakashi demanded cooly, his eyes trained on me. "How did you get here? You wear a Konoha _hitai-ate_, but I don't recognize you from anywhere."

I held up a piece of paper towards Minato. "Um... I'm kind of from the future. Here's proof. Shisho, Jiraiya-sensei, wanted me to test his time traveling scroll and... yeah."

Minato scanned the paper, his brow furrowed. "How do you know all of this... and this handwriting is definitely Jiraiya-sensei's... who are you again?"

"Sakura," I replied before standing up and plucking the paper back. "I'm only here for a few things, then I'll be traveling again."

I turned to Kakashi. I punched him in the nose. "That's for dragging me out of bed after my first dive in with ROOT, you Oni-sensei!"

Kakashi's hands flew up to his nose in disbelief. I then grabbed him and kissed his hands covering his nose. "That's for sharing your favorite book series with me and being an awesome sensei all the other times."

I then turned to Minato. I stared at him. "I will be the mother of your son."

Minato blinked. "... What?"

Finally, I turned to Obito, grinning wickedly. I grabbed him by the shoulders and kissed him. "Hah! Now I stole your first kiss, you rainbow-stick lying, bastard! That was for my cookie that you stole. Now we're even."

Obito stared at me in horror. "No! That's... that's molest!"

"Definitely even," I declared.

I turned to Rin and flipped her off. "I'm a hardcore TobiMia shipper, so I'm not supposed to like you. Otherwise than that, we cool. Alright. Later, kiddies."

And off I went.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"Are you... Uchiha Madara-sama?" I asked curiously.

Said person before stared at me impassively, as I had appeared in the middle of an Uchiha conference, right on top of the table.

"Who are you and how did you get here?" Madara asked cooly.

I blinked. "It doesn't matter. I have to know something. Are you in love with Hashirama?"

Madara paled. "What?"

I scrutinized him. "I can't tell if that's denial or not."

"I will murder you," Madara snarled, his eyes flaring to life.

"I'll take that as a yes, as it neither confirms nor denies my question," I decided. "See you."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"Hey, you two," I said, waving my hand.

"_You_," Madara hissed, his eyes narrowed. Even as a really, really old guy, he somehow managed to look menacing.

"_You_," Obito gasped, horrified as he stared at me.

"Me," I said with a smile. "Madara, I wasn't finished asking you some questions."

"You mean you really are a time traveler," Obito said, gaping at me.

"Yeah... I won't be when you officially meet me the first... er... three times? Four times?" My brow furrowed. "Anyway. Madara, why did you steal your brother's eyes? I mean, couldn't you have just swapped eyes?"

Madara stared at me. "I... No. Swapping eyes would not have worked."

"How come?" I asked curiously.

"Only Uchiha may be privy to that information," Madara hissed.

"For all you know I could be an Uchiha," I pointed out. "Maybe I married into the family.. but I'm going to hazard a guess and assume that you only stole your brother's eyes because you didn't think about swapping at the time."

"You know nothing!"

I sniggered. "If only... Later peeps."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"You're Danzō?" I asked, staring at the young man before me.

His eyes narrowed. "And you would be...?"

I kicked him in between the legs. "Your castrator, you lying bitch."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"You're... Madara-sama?" I asked, staring at the... surprisingly _cute_ boy about my age in front of me.

"Who are you?" Madara asked suspiciously. "I've never seen anyone with pink hair before."

"I'm special," I told him. "I just wanted to see what you looked like at this age. You're very attractive. Damn, I wish you didn't go bat shit insane and were born in _my_ time line."

"I go what?" Madara echoed, his eyes narrowing.

"Nothing," I assured him. "Just you know... try not to be so bitter all the time."

I debated internally for a moment before shrugging and wrapping my arms around him, pulling him close.

"… What are you doing?"

"Shhh..."

"Why are you holding me?"

I started stroking his hair.

"Shhh… just trust me."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"Hi there, Kurama-kun," I said, smiling at the _adorable_ baby fox before me. He was _huge,_ but he was still a baby.

He blinked owlishly at me. "**Who... are you?**"

"We haven't met yet, or well, I've met you but you haven't met me... anyway..."

I moved closer to Kurama, snuggling up against his side. "I just want to tell you that I love you very, very much. And that I'll be your future mother. And know that as your mother, I hate to punish you. So if you behave yourself when you're inside your brother, then I won't have to punish you."

"**Inside my **_**what**_?"

I kissed his side. "Momma loves you very much."

Kurama gave me a very unique look. I hadn't seen that look since I fangasmed all over Kisame the first time, it was the same look Naruto had given me.

Ah… Nostalgia.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

I slowly peered down at the cute little Sasori in front of me. He stared up at me with wide, innocent eyes. I hugged him, squealing. "You're so cute, Danna!"

Sasori tilted his head, blushing lightly and returned my hug. "You're very pretty, Miss."

I squealed.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

After putting the finishing touches on my design, I grinned and took a step back. I then prodded Tobirama awake with my foot and the young man blinked his eyes open. When he saw me, he immediately tensed, rolling out of bed. The moment his feet touched the floor though, he slipped and tumbled forward on to a makeshift skateboard. The spring that I had set up under his bed released itself onto the skateboard the moment he made impact on it and he was sent hurtling out his bedroom door, down the greased hall.

I followed behind him, watching as he struggled in vain to lift himself off the sticky skateboard before he hit a ledge and flew out the window, outside, into a tub of glue. From the impact of the skateboard onto the ledge, released the trigger that ripped open a bag of glitter that rained down on Tobirama. I peeked out the window.

Just as Tobirama was standing up, glowering furiously and wiping the glue away, Madara and his Uchiha group rounded the corner and stopped.

Madara snickered.

I smiled, satisfied.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

I was trying so very, very hard to contain my fangasm as I held in my arms _the_ Kisame as a child—five years old to be exact! I hugged him tightly, cooing about how amazing he was. He just went with it, smiling contentedly.

Yeah. I was such a fan girl.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

I stared at young Itachi. Young Itachi stared back at me, tilting his head curiously.

I poked his forehead. He blinked, his brow furrowed as his hands reached up to the spot where I poked him.

"Don't do that," Itachi told me.

I poked him again.

Itachi scowled.

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"So you're _really_ Hashirama-sama?" I asked, staring at him.

Hashirama smiled. "And you're actually from the future?"

"Yep! I don't know how _else_ to prove it to you..."

"You've already done enough," Hashirama assured me, "but I should probably tell my brother it was _you_ who set up that prank last week... He's been dead set on believing that the Uchiha Clan have a new pink monster or something."

I snickered. "I guess. Hey, hey, so um, do you mind if I get your autograph? And can you sign this here slip of paper... that'd be awesome."

Hashirama raised his eyebrow as he scanned over the paper before he sniggered. "'I, Senju Hashirama, do declare Sakura to be the greatest shinobi of all time next to myself, of course. Uchiha Sasuke is nothing compared to her and as such I decree that every time they are in the same room, he must bow down to her.'"

I grinned. "Come on, please?"

"Sure. Why not?"

"Yes!"

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

"You're the Sage of Six Paths?" I gaped.

The man before me smiled kindly. "I do not hear that name often. And you are?"

I dropped down to my knees. "Take me on as your apprentice. Oh God, _please_."

* * *

**( ****｡◕‿‿◕｡****)**

* * *

I popped back before Jiraiya, smiling contentedly. "Well. It works."

Jiraiya grinned. "Excellent! And I'm sure you've already used it to further enhance and benefit this world, not only saving many lives, but changing them for the better."

I blinked. "Uh... Yeah. Definitely that. Hey, hey, want to check out these new moves I learned from _the_ Sage of Six Paths? Did you know his name was actually-"

* * *

_And that's it, lovelies. In celebration of my birthday (today), my muse demanded I write this, however short it was. I intend to update Sakura one final time and that will be my final one-shot. It will be the longest one-shot for this story, longest chapter, even. I will post the final chapter for the one-year-since-being-published-anniversery. _

_I'd like to take this time and say **thank you** to everyone who has read and stayed with me through writing this. Thank you all so much and I hope you all have just a marvelous life!_

_Reviews are **love**!_


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